ROGER NORIEGA, THE MAIN U.S. ENVOY FOR LATIN AMERICA, ANNOUNCED HIS RESIGNATION

      WASHINGTON, D.C.- Roger Noriega, a staunch opponent of Cuban leader Fidel Castro who rose from humble beginnings to become an often-criticized top U.S. diplomat for Latin America, announced his resignation on Friday. His departure is the most significant reshuffle of the upper echelons of the State Department's Western Hemisphere bureau in more than two years, a period marked by political turmoil in Venezuela and violent ousters of elected leaders in Bolivia, Ecuador and Haiti. The Bush administration has not said who will replace Noriega.

    However, Thomas Shannon, the head of Latin American affairs at the National Security Council is widely viewed as the likely replacement by Latin American observers, lawmakers and former officials. ''After 20 years in government, four years with the Bush administration, I'm going to move on in September,'' Noriega said. Earlier in the day, the 46-year old Noriega ended months of speculation about his resignation by sending an e-mail to friends and acquaintances saying he was leaving his position as assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere to seek ``new and exciting challenges in the private sector beginning in September.''

FELIPE PÉREZ ROQUE SLAMS APPOINTMENT OF U.S. OFFICIAL TAPPED TO PROMOTE DEMOCRACY ON THE ISLAND

      PANAMA CITY, PANAMA.- Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque harshly criticized the appointment of Caleb McCarry as the U.S. point man for democracy in Cuba, predicting Friday that McCarry would grow old and retire without ever stepping foot in the island nation. "I'm sure he will receive a juicy salary in his new post," Perez Roque told reporters in Panama City, where he was attending a summit of Caribbean leaders, "but I can assure you he will retire without ever setting foot in Cuba."

    Perez Roque claimed that McCarry had been picked to be "the Paul Bremer for Cuba," referring to the U.S. official who headed the provisional Iraq occupation authority. "He would be the U.S. governor, to head up the process of annexing Cuba," Perez Roque said. McCarry, a veteran congressional staff expert on Latin America, was appointed to a new State Department post aimed at preparing for a peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba. His appointment is one of two key personnel changes in the State Department's Western Hemisphere bureau. Roger Noriega, head of the bureau, is expected to leave the State Department soon and be replaced by Thomas Shannon, a career diplomat and Latin America expert at the National Security Council.

RICARDO ALARCÓN DISMISSES PERSONNEL CHANGES IN U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT POST AFFECTING POLICY TOWARD ISLAND

      HAVANA, CUBA.- Cuba's Parliament Speaker Ricardo Alarcon dismissed recent personnel changes in the U.S. State Department, saying Saturday they will have little effect on long-standing tensions between Cuba and the United States. Roger Noriega, head of the bureau, is expected to leave the State Department soon, and Caleb McCarry, a veteran congressional staff expert on Latin America, was appointed to a new post aimed at preparing for a peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba.

    The adjustments "will not change anything in the relations" between the two countries, Alarcon told reporters during a meeting with American activists in Havana. Alarcon joked that Noriega, who consistently takes a hardline stance against Cuba, would be sorely missed. "I'm very, very sorry because we are going to lose a very comic personality," he said. "I'm going to miss him a lot if he doesn't appear before cameras talking, saying dumb things. He's really a very funny person." Noriega is to be replaced by Thomas Shannon, a career diplomat and Latin America expertl.

SALVADORIAN CONGRESS EXTENDS MILITARY MISSION TO IRAQ

      SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR.- El Salvador's congress has approved the extension of the country's military mission to Iraq, agreeing to send a fourth group of soldiers to the troubled nation. Salvadorian lawmakers voted to keep troops in Iraq to help in humanitarian and reconstruction work. El Salvador is the only Latin American country with forces in Iraq following the withdrawal of Honduran, Nicaraguan and Dominican soldiers who had served under the Ultra-Plus Brigade formerly led by Spain. El Salvador sent its first group of 360 soldiers in August 2003. Permission for the latest group expires Aug. 19, and the soldiers are scheduled to return to El Salvador before that date.

CUBA TO BUY VIP RUSSIAN JETS FOR $100M 

      HAVANA, CUBA.- Cuban airline Aviaimport is to purchase two Il-96-300 jets from Russia’s Voronezh-based Ilyushin Finans Co in line with an agreement signed by the parties, Gazeta.Ru reports.  The Cuban firm will pay $100 million for the jets, of which $85 million will be repaid within 9 years in the form of a loan guaranteed by the Russian and Cuban governments. Each plane will be furnished with a double cabin and a VIP-cabin for Fidel Castro.  The talks on selling the two Voronezh-made jets to Cuba began in late 2003. The first plane will be delivered to Cuba before March 2005; the second will be delivered by June next year.

 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE: IMAGES BROADCAST ON TELESUR ARE A "PROVOCATION"

      BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA.- US Assistant Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, who is visiting Colombia, Thursday said that the images of Colombian guerrillas broadcast on the new Latin American news channel Telesur are an act of "provocation," news agency AFP reported. "Telesur showed photographs of FARC (Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces) leaders, and that is a provocation. ¿Why a free and democratic press wants to favour terrorists?," Burns asked when interviewed by Colombian RCN radio.

    "We do not lose any sleep over Telesur as (Venezuelan President Hugo) Chávez is not the center of our political universe," he added. The third man most important in the US Department of State insisted that for Washington, Venezuela must follow the example of Colombia and Brazil as "good models" of a modern and free democracy. In a modern democracy it is important that people get information not influenced by politics, Burns said.  

TOP VENEZUELAN GENERAL DENIES U.S. CHARGES THAT HIS COUNTRY IS TRYING TO DESTABILIZE NEIGHBORS

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Venezuela is not trying to destabilize neighboring countries, a top Venezuelan general said Thursday, denying U.S. accusations that his country is actively stirring up revolution elsewhere in South America.  Gen. Melvin Lopez Hidalgo said to the contrary, Venezuela "is a stabilizing factor in the region." U.S. officials this week have sharply accused Venezuela and Cuba of trying to install leftist governments throughout Latin America, particularly in Bolivia.

    Roger Noriega, the top U.S. State Department official for the Americas, on Wednesday accused Venezuela and Cuba of interfering in Bolivia's internal affairs by providing backing to populist congressman Evo Morales. A U.S. Defense Department official, Roger Pardo-Maurer, said earlier that the two allies have launched many "subversive projects" across the hemisphere, primarily financed and organized by oil-rich Venezuela.

    Lopez Hidalgo called the accusations false and said the real cause for concern is "the continued interference of the U.S. government in Venezuela's internal affairs." "We are a peaceful nation," Lopez Hidalgo said. "The National Armed Forces are growing stronger to defend its people, to defend its sovereignty ... at no time are we going to affect anyone." He said in the past, Latin American and Caribbean nations were "timid" before the United States, which used governments "as puppets."

 VENEZUELA AND CUBA INTERVENED IN BOLIVIA, SAID NORIEGA

   WASHINGTON, D.C.- The US Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roger Noriega  confirmed the statements made by a Pentagon official who said that Venezuela and Cuba were meddling in Bolivia's internal affairs. Noriega added that a response should not come from the US Department of State, but from the region as a whole. "There are overwhelming evidences," he affirmed, referring to statements made by US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Roger Pardo Maurer, who said that Venezuela and Cuba are trying to destabilize not only Bolivia, but also other Latin American countries.

    Noriega said the Bolivian people and authorities know about the interventions in Bolivia by Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and his Cuban counterpart Fidel Castro. "It is not about how they worry about Pardo Maurer's o Roger Noriega's comments," he said. "It is an issue that must be decided upon by the region."

DIAZ-BALART PRAISES SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE'S APPOINTMENT OF CALEB McCARRY AS THE TRANSITION COORDINATOR FOR CUBA

      WASHINGTON, D.C.- Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL) today praised U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for appointing Caleb McCarry as the "Transition Coordinator for Cuba". Mr. McCarry previously served as a Professional Staff Member on U.S. House Committee on International Relations. In this capacity, he specialized in Western Hemisphere issues and acquired a unique and profound knowledge of the Cuban situation.

    "Mr. McCarry has distinguished himself as a strong advocate for freedom and democracy in Cuba," said Congressman Diaz-Balart. "He is superbly qualified to be the point man and implementor in chief for President Bush's policy with regard to Cuba.  Caleb deeply believes in the right of the Cuban people to live in freedom and he will work on a daily basis to assist the Cuban people in achieving a democratic transition as soon as possible.  I congratulate Secretary Rice for her appointment of Caleb McCarry and look forward to continuing to work with him on this important matter."

CALEB McCARRY NAMED TO NEW STATE DEPARTMENT POST AIMED TO PROMOTE FREEDOM IN CUBA

      WASHINGTON, D.C.- Caleb McCarry, a veteran congressional staff expert on Latin America, was appointed to a new State Department post aimed at preparing for a peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba. "It is the responsibility of the civilized world to act to see that the Cuban family is reunited under political and economic freedom," McCarry said at a State Department ceremony after being introduced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. McCarry has served for eight years on the House International Relations Committee's Republican staff.

    His appointment is one of two key personnel changes in the State Department's Western Hemisphere bureau. The post of "transition coordinator" that is being filled by McCarry grew out of a 2004 report on Cuba prepared by a commission headed by then-Secretary of State Colin Powell. The report outlined the steps that the United States was prepared to take to assist a democratic Cuba and to bring pressure to bear on Fidel Castro's government in the meantime. The report said the United States should try to subvert the planned succession in Cuba under which power would pass from Fidel Castro to his younger brother, Raul.

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES PASSES CENTRAL AMERICAN TRADE PACT

      WASHINGTON, D.C.- The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved a free-trade agreement with Central America on Thursday, handing President George W. Bush a hard-fought victory in difficult times for efforts to expand global trade. The Republican-controlled House voted 217-215 in favor of the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, after a final push by Bush and top aides to win over many reluctant Republicans. Only 15 of the House's 202 Democrats backed CAFTA, and 27 Republicans opposed it.

    The agreement eliminates tariffs on U.S. exports to Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. It also locks in and expands the duty-free access those countries already have to the U.S. market. The pact's approval came as international negotiators struggle to make progress toward a new world-trade agreement. A congressional defeat of CAFTA would dealt a heavy blow to the talks by raising questions about Washington's ability to follow through on trade deals. Afterward, Bush said he looked forward to signing the bill. "The agreement is more than a trade bill: it is a commitment of freedom-loving nations to advance peace and prosperity throughout the Western Hemisphere," Bush said in a statement. The Senate approved CAFTA last month.

 VETERAN ACTIVIST SAYS THREE CUBAN DISSIDENTS HELD AFTER LAST WEEK'S ROUNDUP COULD BE TRIED ISSIDENTS 

      HAVANA, CUBA.- Three dissidents still held after a police roundup last week could be tried on charges of working to undermine Fidel Castro's communist government, a veteran activist said Wednesday. The news that Rene Gomez Manzano, Oscar Mario Gonzalez and Julio Cesar Lopez could go to trial came the morning after Castro lashed out at opponents as "traitors" and "mercenaries" in his annual rebellion day speech.

    "Cuba's alleged opposition does not exist except in the feverish minds of the Cuban-American mafia and the bureaucrats of the White House and the State Department," Castro said before a gathering of government faithful at Havana's Karl Marx Theater. "They deceive themselves with their own lies, buying off opportunistic people," Castro said. The Cuban dictator also characterized the outgoing chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, James Cason, as a "grotesque character" and complained that U.S.-funded radio and television transmissions to Cuba had been stepped up in recent weeks.

    Elizardo Sanchez of the non-governmental Cuban Commission on Human Rights and Reconciliation said in a statement that officials told relatives of the three dissidents that the men could be tried under Law 88, or "Law for the Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy." The law created in 1999 to rein in the opposition carries sentences of up to 20 years. It's the same law that was applied to most of the 75 opponents arrested in a highly publicized crackdown in March 2003. All were found guilty and sentenced to long prison terms. Gomez Manzano is the best known of the three Sanchez said could be tried.

INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST INCLUDED IN WAVE OF ARREST OF DISSIDENTS 

      HAVANA, CUBA.- Reporters Without Borders today roundly condemned the arrest of independent journalist Oscar Mario González of the Grupo de Trabajo Decoro news agency, who was detained at the same time as at least 15 other dissidents on the morning of 22 July.  Referring to the 21 other journalists already being held in dreadful conditions in prisons throughout the island since 18 March 2003, the organisation said González had become "the 22nd example of the deplorable state of press freedom in Cuba."

    More dissidents were arrested last week than at any time since the so-called Black Spring of March 2003. Thirteen of those detained on 22 July were still being held today, including González. The exact circumstances of his arrest are unknown. He has been allowed to receive some packages but he has not been allowed any visits.  When González was summoned and questioned by two state security agents in Havana on 24 March, he was told he would not see his family again if he continued to work against the government as a journalist. He was offered the chance of going to Sweden where his daughter lives, but he refused. 

    Three of the journalists held since March 2003 for threatening "the state's independence and territorial integrity" are members of the Grupo de Trabajo Decoro news agency. They are Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez (who is serving a 20-year prison sentence), Omar Moisés Ruiz Hernández (who was sentenced to 18 years) and José Ubaldo Izquierdo Hernández (16 years).

NICHOLAS BURNS: WASHINGTON UNFAZED BY VENEZUELA'S HUGO CHAVEZ

      BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA.-The United States is unfazed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's alleged efforts to turn Latin American nations away from Washington by supporting populist leftist movements throughout the region, a top U.S. official said Wednesday. "We are not losing any sleep over what Mr. Chavez may or may not be doing," Nicholas Burns, the U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, told reporters during a visit to the Colombian capital.

   Burns also questioned whether Telesur, a new pan-Latin American satellite TV station financed by Chavez and promoted as an alternative to Western media giants, will be independent. "Is Telesur going to be an arm of the Venezuelan government? We'll see," he said. "We think there should be a free press." Telesur began broadcasts on Sunday. U.S. Congress is working on a measure to transmit U.S. radio and TV broadcasts as a counterweight.

    Chavez, along with Cuba's Fidel Castro, is suspected by U.S. officials of providing moral support and money to anti-American leftist movements across the region, notably in Bolivia, which has been wracked by instability recently. Burns insisted that Venezuela was out of sync with what he called the emerging "successful democratic states" in Latin America that enjoy good relations with Washington and have a "positive agenda." "Venezuela is often kind of on the outside," the State Department official said. "I think the challenge really is for Venezuela to join the majority of us that have the same views."

TONY BLAIR VOWS NOT O 'GIVE ONE INCH' TO TERRORISTS  

      LONDON, ENGLAND.-Prime Minister Tony Blair vowed Tuesday not to "give one inch" on British policies in Iraq or the Middle East, and said his government is determined to toughen laws against terrorists and their supporters in the wake of attacks on London's transit system. In his monthly news conference, Blair lashed out at critics who say Britain's participation in the U.S.-led war in Iraq has made the country more of a target. Polls suggest a majority of Britons share that view, overwhelmingly so among Muslim residents.

    Blair said that while terrorist groups use the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan to recruit and motivate followers, "I think most people understand that the roots of this go much deeper. Let us expose the obscenity of these people saying it is concern for Iraq that drives them to terrorism," Blair told reporters. "If it is concern for Iraq, then why are they driving a car bomb into the middle of a group of children (in Iraq) and killing them.

CUBAN MIGRANTS LAND IN SANIBEL
     
    KEY WEST, FLORIDA.- In a highly unusual incident, 19 Cuban migrants believed to have been smuggled from Cuba landed Tuesday in an upscale residential area of Sanibel Island on Florida's Gulf Coast. The group, which included three women and one child, was transported by the U.S. Border Patrol to its Pembroke Pines station and later released. No boat was recovered at the scene of the landing. It's the first time in recent memory, and perhaps ever, that smugglers have unloaded Cuban migrants as far north as Lee County, adding hours onto a smuggling run that typically ends off the Florida Keys.

    Over the past year, however, smugglers have stepped up their operations out of neighboring Collier County to the south, regularly launching speedboats from remote areas to try to avoid detection by the U.S. Coast Guard and other law enforcement agencies. Tuesday's landing comes amid a flurry of Cuban migrant landings in recent days in the Keys as calmer seas have eased the voyage across the Florida Straits

DIAZ-BALART TO INTRODUCE RESOLUTION IN THE U.S. CONGRESS CONDEMNING THE MOST RECENT CRACKDOWN AGAINST MEMBERS OF THE OPPOSITION IN CUBA

      WASHINGTON, D.C. Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (FL-R) will introduce a resolution in the Congress of the United States condemning the recent arrests of members of the opposition in Cuba by the communist dictatorship.

    Members of the Assembly to Promote Civil Society in Cuba, who were planning a peaceful demonstration in front of the French Embassy in Havana on the morning of Friday, July 22, were the victims of hate acts their homes were ransacked, and at least 20 of them were arrested. Among those arrested were the leaders of the Cuban opposition Martha Beatriz Roque, Felix Bonne Carcasses and Rene Gomez Manzano. Gomez Manzano and other opposition members remain in prison.

    "This has been one more example of the brutality of a dictatorship that does not allow freedom of expression for Cubans, and instructs its thugs to assault the members of the peaceful opposition for the "crime" of seeking freedom, democracy and respect for human rights in Cuba. The world needs to respond in the strongest possible terms to this latest violation of the most elemental human rights in Cuba. My resolution condemns the latest violations of human rights by the Cuban regime, a regime of gangsters, by gangsters and for gangsters, led by the gangster in chief", said Diaz-Balart.

JUDGE DENIES BOND FOR LUIS POSADA CARRILES, SEEKS BAY OF PIGS INFORMATION

      EL PASO, TEXAS.- -A U.S. immigration judge denied bail for an asylum-seeking former CIA operative from Cuba and asked for legal briefs on whether his role in the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion was a terrorist act. Lawyers for Luis Posada Carriles called the request "surprising" because they said if Posada is found to have engaged in terrorism, it would imply the CIA did also.

    The CIA backed the ill-fated attempt by 1,300 Cuban exiles, armed with U.S. weapons, to topple Cuban leader Fidel Castro after landing at the bay on Cuba's southern coast. Posada, 77, has admitted working against Castro and earlier told reporters he was involved in the Bay of Pigs operation, but his lawyers said he was not in the actual invasion.

    Posada's attorney, Matthew Archambeault, asked U.S. Immigration Judge William Abbott to set bail so Posada might be freed while his asylum case is pending, but Abbott refused, citing the pending accusations against Posada. He set an Aug. 29 hearing to consider his request for asylum, which the judge said may be influenced by whether Posada was involved in terrorism. Posada will "work with the government in good faith" to answer the terrorism question, said Archambeault. "Mr. Posada doesn't want the U.S. government to jump through hoops."

HUGO CHAVEZ SAYS EGYPT TERRORIST ATTACK LIKELY SPURRED BY U.S. ACTIONS IN IRAQ

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Hugo Chavez criticized the American occupation of Iraq as a threat to world peace, saying the U.S. actions appear to be spurring more terrorist attacks, including the bombings at an Egyptian Red Sea resort. "It must be asked if these acts would be occurring if the U.S. government hadn't invaded Iraq," Chavez said. "I think not."

He said the invasion of Iraq, "staged on grand lies like those that said the Iraqi government had weapons of mass destruction - which never appeared - now is impacting world peace in a terrible way." Chavez, a leftist former army officer, argues the so-called war on terrorism should focus in part on trying to bridge the wide gap between rich and poor countries.

"We want peace here, but if every last Venezuelan had to die in the face of the U.S. empire's irrational desire to take over oil, we're ready to die knee-to-the-ground defending our homeland's integrity," Chavez said. U.S. officials have repeatedly expressed concerns about Chavez's close links to Cuban leader Fidel Castro and the health of democracy in Venezuela. But they have strongly denied Chavez's suggestions that the American government is considering military action aimed at Venezuela.

EIGHT NEWBORNS DIED IN JUNE IN HAVANA HOSPITAL

      HAVANA, CUBA.- Eight newborns died during the month of June in the Hijas de Galicia maternity hospital in Havana. Hospital employees suggested the cause was bacterial contamination, but there was no official confirmation. At present, several hospital facilities, including operating rooms and neonatal intensive care wards are closed and are only available for emergency Caesarean sections. The hospital director has since been replaced by another doctor coming from the América Arias maternity hospital in the Vedado district. The Cuban government routinely asserts that the country's infant mortality rate is low. It touts the index as one of the accomplishments of the Communist regime.

HUGO CHAVEZ'S TELESUR TV TO FIGHT "CULTURAL IMPERIALISM"

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Hugo Chavez launched a new Latin American television channel Sunday to fight what his government called "cultural imperialism" from U.S. and European media. Telesur (Telesouth), a Spanish-language station formed by the governments of Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba and Uruguay, began transmissions with round-table commentary from the station's officials and an advisory board of international left-wing intellectuals and celebrities.

    "We launch Telesur with a clear goal to break this communication regime and present a vision, a voice which until now has been silenced. Telesur is an initiative against cultural imperialism," Andres Izarra, Telesur president and Venezuela's minister of communications, said. The Venezuelan-financed venture aims to provide a Latin American perspective on events, promote cultural diversity, and counter what its creators call the "hegemony" of international and local commercial networks in their coverage of the region.

    Chavez, an outspoken left-wing nationalist who often accuses President Bush of plotting to topple him, called the launch a "success" and said Telesur was vital to his vision of Latin American and Caribbean integration. He said the channel was drawing viewers from around the region and that even Bush was "glued to the television watching Telesur." Chavez said the network was a blow to an effort by some U.S. legislators trying to wage what he has called "electronic warfare" against him. "The United States has threatened us with broadcasts to neutralize Telesur. We have scored the first goal," Chavez said in a telephone call to the channel during the launch.

FRANCE URGES CUBA TO FREE DETAINED DISSIDENTS

    PARIS, FRANCE.- France's Foreign Ministry urged Cuba on Sunday to free any dissidents still in custody after the recent arrest of up to 20 people who had planned to attend a protest outside the French Embassy in Havana. Several of those rounded up by state security agents in the Friday gathering were released, including Martha Beatriz Roque, Cuba's top woman opposition leader.

    In a statement, the ministry said its embassy intervened immediately to urge Cuban authorities to free those who were detained. "French authorities are following this situation with great attention," the statement said, adding that it hopes "all the people arrested can be freed without delay." The ministry called the event a "peaceful gathering" and said that France continues, along with its European Union partners, to lobby Cuba for the release of all its political prisoners.

EU CONCERNED OVER  CUBA CLAMPDOWN

      BRUSSELS, BELGIUM.- The European Union voiced deep concern Sunday over Cuba's latest clampdown on dissidents, lamenting a renewed hardening of stance in Havana six months after the EU suspended sanctions against the island state. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, welcomed news that key opposition figure Marta Beatriz Roque had been released, but condemned the rounding up of more than a dozen dissidents on Friday.

    "The European Commission remains extremely concerned about the current political situation in Cuba," it said in a statement. "Recent events appear to show a clear hardening in the attitude of the government of Cuba." "While the Commission is pleased at news of the release of Martha Beatriz Roque, the arrest of a number of Cuban dissidents on (Friday) nevertheless illustrates the extreme social tension in Cuba at the present time."

COMMUNIST CUBA DETAINS 22 DISSIDENTS INCLUDING MARTHA BEATRIZ ROQUE, FÉLIX BONNE AND RÉNE GÓMEZ MANZANO

      HAVANA, CUBA.- Cuban police detained 22 people, including the three top leaders of a dissident group, apparently to thwart a planned rally for the release of political prisoners on the island. "These are arbitrary detentions and a flagrant violation of the freedom of association and peaceful demonstration," said Elizardo Sanchez, head of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation. The three leaders of the Assembly detained on Friday were Martha Beatriz Roque, Félix Bonne and René Gómez Manzano.

    Supporters of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro also staged noisy demonstrations outside the homes of opponents who had planned a rally outside the French Embassy in Havana to call for the release of political prisoners. The group had picked the French Embassy for its rally to encourage Paris to keep pressure on Cuba to free 61 dissidents imprisoned in the 2003 crackdown that led to EU diplomatic sanctions. France last week moved to restore full ties with Cuba by inviting government officials to its Bastille Day celebration.

    The detentions appeared to be the most vigorous crackdown on opposition since a March 2003 round-up of 75 dissidents. Those people were later sentenced to prison terms of up to 28 years in a move by Cuba that was roundly condemned abroad. There was no comment yet from Cuban authorities on the detentions. But a Foreign Ministry spokesman, asked about the planned opposition rally earlier in the day, repeated the Cuban government's stance that Cuba's small dissident groups are organized and paid for by Havana's longstanding political foe the United States.

SEVEN BLASTS ROCK EGYPTIAN RESORT, KILLING AT LEAST 88

      SHARM EL-SHEIK, EGYPT.- A rapid series of car bombs and another blast ripped through a luxury hotel and a coffeeshop in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik early Saturday, killing at least 88. Egypt's president vowed to hunt down the culprits as rescue workers said the death toll could still rise. The attacks, Egypt's deadliest terror hit ever, came just two days after the latest strikes in London and sent an already jittery world reeling again.

    With an al-Qaida-linked group claiming responsibility, Egypt tightened security at other busy tourist sites like the Pyramids and Luxor, and the government and British tourist agencies sent large aircraft to the Sinai to fly home now-nervous tourists. Pope Benedict XVI was among world political and religious leaders deploring the attacks, calling them "senseless acts." He appealed to terrorists to renounce violence.

    The attacks appeared well coordinated. Two car bombs, possibly by suicide attackers, went off simultaneously at 1:15 a.m. just more than 2 miles (three kilometers) apart. A third bomb, believed hidden in a sack, detonated around the same time near a beachside walkway where tourists often stroll at night. A total of 88 people were confirmed dead. Among the dead were two Britons, two Germans and an Italian, he added, and Czech officials said one Czech tourist was also killed. Rescue workers were still searching for victims at some attack scenes. Several hours after the attacks, a group claiming ties to al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the explosions. The group, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, also claimed responsibility for a Cairo bombing in April.

SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE FURIOUS AFTER SUDANESE FORCES MANHANDLE AIDES

      KHARTOUM, SUDAN.- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held a congratulatory round of meetings with officials of the new unified Sudanese government Thursday, but expressed outrage after security forces manhandled aides and reporters accompanying her. ''It makes me very angry to be sitting there with their president and have this happen,'' she said. ''They have no right to push and shove.''

    Rice made her remarks to reporters after she and her entourage were aboard an airplane preparing to leave the Sudanese capital. ''Diplomacy 101 says you don't rough your guests up,'' Rice senior adviser Jim Wilkinson had said earlier as he and reporters traveling with Rice faced off with guards at the ultra-high-security residence of Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir.

    El-Bashir's guards elbowed Americans and tried to rip a tape away from a U.S. reporter. At another point, Rice's interpreter and some other aides accompanying her were blocked at a gate. Ambassador Khidair Haroun Ahmed, head of the Sudanese mission in Washington, attempted to smooth over the situation. ''Please accept our apologies,'' he told reporters and Rice aides. ''This is not our policy.''  But there was yet another scuffle with security shortly after he apologized when a U.S. television reporter tried to ask el-Bashir a question about his involement with alleged atrocities. Guards grabbed the diminutive reporter and muscled her toward the rear of the room as State Department officials shouted at the guards to leave her alone.

HUGO CHÁVEZ URGES VENEZUELANS TO EMBRACE SOCIALISM

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Hugo Chávez Wednesday called on Venezuelans to embrace socialism while explaining that his government's socialist-style measures have resulted in a decline in the unemployment rate in the country.

    "Unemployment keeps on going down," Chávez said during the launching of a new government program aimed at improving housing conditions in poor sectors. Jobless rate was 11.8% in June.In this regard, the Venezuelan ruler claimed that "we, Venezuelans, must be optimistic." He added that unemployment "is one of the worst consequences of capitalism." Therefore, "I call on the Venezuelan people to embrace socialism," he said.

U.S. CONGRESS APPROVES AMENDMENT TO LAUNCH A RADIO AND TV STATION

    WASHINGTON, D.C.- U.S. Congress approved earlier Wednesday an amendment authorizing future broadcasts aimed at establishing a counterweight to Telesur, a recently launched TV station backed by Venezuela, Argentina, communist-led Cuba and Uruguay. The amendment was proposed by Florida congressman Connie Mack, a sharp critic of left-leaning Chavez. It authorizes the U.S. government "to initiate radio and television broadcasts that will provide a consistently accurate, objective, and comprehensive source of news to Venezuela."

    It wasn't immediately clear when the broadcasts to this South American nation of 26 million would begin or what type of information they would contain. Telesur began transmitting by satellite on May 24 as part of the test phase for a project organizers say will bring Latin America an alternative to large commercial media outlets. Telesur broadcasts contain too much anti-Americanism and Chavez's "revolutionary" rhetoric, according to Mack.

    "Today America has sent a message that we will not turn a blind eye as Hugo Chavez continues to snuff-out freedom and hijack Venezuela from its citizens," the Florida congressman said. Officials in Washington has repeatedly accused Chavez, a close ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro, of gradually eliminating press freedoms in Venezuela. Chavez denies the allegations. The president's foes frequently refer to state-run TV and radio stations as pro-government "propaganda machines."

HUGO CHAVEZ CRITICIZES U.S. PLAN FOR RADIO AND TV BROADCASTS

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Hugo Chavez called an amendment authorizing U.S. radio and television broadcasts to Venezuela another "desperate attack by the imperialists." He said that Venezuela's government would "jam the signal" of any broadcasts from the United States, but added he would "carefully evaluate" the decision made earlier in the day by members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

    "This is simply another desperate attack by the imperialists, one which shouldn't surprise us," said Chavez, one of Latin America's most outspoken critics of U.S. foreign policy in the region. "We'll see if the U.S. government takes any action because what they have done is give the green light to the government, so it takes the initiative," he added.

    Chavez's government has given strong financial backing to Telesur, saying it will help give South America a voice independent of traditional media conglomerates like CNN. Venezuela's information minister is the station's president. Chavez said the U.S.-broadcast plan appeared similar to Radio Marti, the U.S. government broadcast operations that are aimed at communist-led Cuba and very critical of Cuban leader Fidel Castro. "Telesur is not Chavez's project ... I hope to see criticism of my government" on the new channel, said Chavez. Telesur will "compete with media outlets controlled by the opposition," Alvarez said in a reference to privately-owned television channels in Venezuela that are regularly critical of Chavez.

VENEZUELAN AMBASSADOR ALSO ATTACKS U.S. PLAN FOR RADIO AND TV BROADCASTS

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Venezuela's ambassador in Washington said that an amendment authorizing U.S. radio and television broadcasts to Venezuela to ensure its citizens receive "accurate news" is nothing more than a "propaganda" effort against President Hugo Chavez's government. Bernardo Alvarez said Wednesday that "manipulation and lack of knowledge" led to the approval in the U.S. Congress of the amendment .

    Information Minister Andres Izarra defended Telesur as a "means toward Latin American integration" and denied that it was anti-American. He said Venezuela's government could decide "to jam the signal" of broadcasts from U.S. soil. Venezuela "won't accept any initiative that violates our sovereignty, be it over the airwaves or otherwise," said Izarra,

    Izarra said the U.S.-broadcast plan appeared similar to Radio Marti, the U.S. government broadcast operations that are aimed at Cuba and are very critical of Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Telesur began transmitting by satellite on May 24 as part of the test phase for a project organizers say will bring Latin America an alternative to large commercial media outlets.  Chavez has given strong financial backing to Telesur, saying it will help give South America a voice independent of traditional media conglomerates like CNN. Venezuela's information minister is the station's president.

WASHINGTON RULES OUT "SEIZING" VENEZUELAN OIL

      LA PAZ, BOLIVIA.- United States has no intention whatsoever to "take nothing" off Venezuela, let alone its oil, US Deputy Secretary of State for the Andean Region Charles Shapiro said Tuesday.

    Shapiro was referring himself to the remarks of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez last Monday in Lima, Peru. Chávez maintained that Venezuela would defend oil reserves from the world superpower, as it intended to take them. "We are not willing to seize oil or anything off Venezuela," the US official reasserted during a press conference in La Paz, Bolivia.

    Shapiro is paying a two-day official visit in Bolivia, including a meeting with President Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé. The official insisted that the United States "does not intend to take anything". On the contrary, it "wants to buy Venezuelan, Bolivian, Chilean, Canadian exports and exports from all over the world."

VENEZUELAN STUDENTS PROTEST AGAINST PROPOSED EDUCATION LAW

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Hundreds of university students marched though Venezuela's capital Tuesday protesting proposed legislation they fear will curtail the autonomy of public universities and reduce budgets. Waving banners and chanting "University Autonomy, Yes! Intervention, No!" close to 1,000 students marched from a public university in central Caracas to the Education Ministry downtown.

    The students, joined by university professors and employees, argued that legislation proposed by the government of President Hugo Chavez would minimize the independence of the nation's public universities.

    The government-drafted law would give the ministry considerable control over the use of budgets in public universities. All of Venezuela public universities are financed by the government, but each college manages its own budget independently.

FIVE DISSIDENTS CHARGED OF TRYING TO ENTER GUANTANAMO NAVAL BASE

      SANTA CLARA, CUBA.-  Five dissidents affiliated with the Liberal Party of Cuba have been accused of illegally trying to leave the country via the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo. The five were identified as Luis Enrique Junquera García, Juan Carlos Alpízar Rodas, Alexis Sotolongo Díaz, Didier Arencibia Pérez and Orlando Rodríguez Zalazar. Relatives said the men tried to leave July 8.

    They were taken to facilities of the Department of State Security. "Local members of our party in Santa Clara are alarmed because only a few days ago we learned they were under investigation and we hoped they would be soon freed," said Bernardo Luis Ascanio Camargo, vice-delegate of the party on Santa Clara..

STUDENT SCOLDED FOR HIS FATHER'S MILITANCY

      HAVANA, CUBA.-  The 13-year-old son of independent journalist Luis Miguel González Pavón was scolded by teacher Nilda Piñones for the militancy of his father. When the student, who is in eighth grade at the Juan Olay secondary school, questioned the teacher for remarks about his father, she replied: "Because he's a counterrevolutionary who has tried on various occasions to illegally leave the country and he is a militant in an opposition group."

    González Pavón said he doesn't understand the relationship between his political militancy and his son's schooling. González Pavón is a member of the Liberal party of Cuba and works as a journalist in Cubanacán Press.

LOUISIANA STATE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OFFICIALS WILL MAKE A THIRD TRIP TO CUBA

      BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA.- State economic development officials are planning a third trip to Cuba in the hope of stirring up more business between the island nation and Louisiana businesses. This time, neither Gov. Kathleen Blanco nor Mike Olivier, secretary of the Department of Economic Development, will be making the trip. Olivier made the previous two trips, while the governor went on the second, amid stout criticism from Cuban American groups who said she should not be trading with Fidel Castro.

     Among the nine participants traveling to the communist nation on July 28-29 will be officials with the Port of South Louisiana, a medical equipment supplier in New Orleans, a dairy products producer and a rice shipment company. A non-governmental group also plans to donate large tarp material for recovery efforts from Hurricane Dennis, said Felipe Martinez, the DED official leading the third trip. A recent ruling by the Bush administration's Office of Foreign Asset Control is requiring Cuba to pay cash in advance for U.S. goods.

VENEZUELA CARDINAL CRITICIZES HUGO CHAVEZ AMID GROWING TENSIONS

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- An outspoken Venezuelan cardinal has accused President Hugo Chavez of accumulating too much power amid growing tensions between the government and the Roman Catholic Church. Cardinal Rosalio Castillo Lara said late Sunday that Chavez's administration "has seized control of all the branches of government" in Venezuela, which is deeply divided over the president's populist policies and increasingly close relations with communist-led Cuba.

    The cardinal told the local Union Radio broadcaster "true democracy" does not exist in Venezuela, and warned the president is steering the country toward a Cuba-style dictatorship. "The only solution is democratic, which must involve the resistance of all the people," Castillo Lara said.

    After months of keeping a low profile, the country's highest body of Catholic leaders, the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference, has recently renewed its criticism of Chavez and his left-leaning government. The Roman Catholic Church is one of the most trusted institutions in the poverty-stricken South American nation. More than 90 percent of the population is Roman Catholic, and church leaders and local priests weild tremendous influence over many Venezuelans.s totalmente falso. El cardenal fue a La Orchila llamado por Chávez, así como fue Baltazar Porras a Fuerte Tiuna. Los había llamado para que velaran por su vida y él con gran humildad, podríamos decir en ese momento, lloró delante de ellos. El hecho de haberlo visto humillado como lo vio Velasco y de haberle pedido perdón y excusas por lo que había tratado, eso le engendró un odio a este señor que lo llevó a éste insultarlo después de muerto".

HUGO CHAVEZ TAKES OVER THE ANDEAN COMMUNITY OF NATIONS, BOOSTS INITIATIVES

      LIMA, PERÚ.- Hugo Chávez is to take over as president of the Andean Community of Nations amidst a diplomatic offensive that has been the center of discussions during ministerial meetings prior to the summit beginning Monday 18 in Lima, Peru. The proposed establishment of Petroandina, the creation of an International Humanitarian Fund, extension of Telesur and involvement of Andean nations in the Miracle Mission -eye surgery in Cuba- may have a sound support.

    The initiatives were made by the Venezuelan delegation and accepted by the remaining four, even though some of them were not welcomed at the very beginning. Colombia was the country that objected the most to Venezuelan proposals, particularly Telesur, following claims by Bogota daily El Tiempo of alleged proximity of the TV channel to Colombian guerrillas. Ecuador gave the strongest support, and Peru and Bolivia backed most of the proposals by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Alí Rodríguez regarding the oil sector. However, a Venezuelan attempt at establishing the South Bank was deferred.

RAFAEL PALMEIRO, ANOTHER CUBAN-AMERICAN WHO HAS SUCCEEDED IN THE UNITED STATES, JOINS A MAJOR LEAGUES' EXCLUSIVE CLUB WITH MORE THAN 500 HOME RUNS AND 3,000 HITS

       SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.- Cuban-American Rafael Palmeiro plans to display the ball from his 3,000th hit right next to the one he smacked for his 500th home run. Those are milestones that should be good enough to make the Baltimore slugger a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Yet Palmeiro insisted he's not worthy to share space with Hank Aaron and Willie Mays.

    "You're talking about two of the best players of all time," Palmeiro said after collecting his 3,000th hit. "I'm in a group with them, but that doesn't mean I belong." Palmeiro has 566 home runs, joining Aaron, Mays and Eddie Murray as the only players with 3,000 hits and 500 homers.|

    Palmeiro became the 26th player to reach the hit milestone, doubling in a run in the fifth inning to tie Roberto Clemente for No. 25 place on baseball's list. He passed Clemente with a sixth-inning single. "I was just trying to drive the runner in," Palmeiro said. "I was trying to do my thing, keep it simple. I did what I had to do, and it was my 3,000th hit. I was numb going around the bases. I don't remember much." 

VENEZUELAN CARDINAL SAYS CHAVEZ RULE "DICTATORSHIP"

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Venezuela's highest Catholic prelate Sunday condemned President Hugo Chavez's rule as a dictatorship and urged Venezuelans to reject it in an attack likely to strain already poor church-government ties. "I am convinced that what we have here is a dictatorship," Cardinal Rosalio Castillo, who is retired, said in a interview published by El Universal newspaper.

    He told Venezuelans to use their constitutional right to refuse to recognize the left-wing president on the grounds he was not ruling democratically. Castillo did not elaborate on what actions he thought Venezuelans should take. Castillo said that as he was retired he could not speak officially for Venezuela's Catholic Church. But as cardinal he is the highest-ranking member of the local church hierarchy in the predominantly Catholic South American country.

    The cardinal scoffed at a recent assertion by Chavez that his government was following the teaching of Jesus Christ by spending Venezuela's oil wealth to help the poor. "His goal above all is not to help the poor but to concentrate his power," Castillo said. Echoing the criticism of Chavez's political foes, Castillo said the president was trying to install Cuban-style communism in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

UNITED STATES SAYS CUBA HAS DECLINED DISASTER AID 

      WASHINGTON, D.C.- The United States said Cuba had declined its offer of humanitarian assistance in the wake of Hurricane Dennis that killed at least 10 people on the communist-ruled island.  Acting State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the US interests section in Havana informed the Cuban government on Sunday that the United States was prepared to provide "immediate humanitarian assistance of emergency supplies to help those Cubans affected by the hurricane." The Bush administration had also offered to deploy an assessment team to Cuba to help determine what relief supplies were most needed.

    "Unfortunately the Castro government declined these offers," the spokesman said in a statement. The hurricane that passed over Cuba late last week killed 10 people and temporarily displaced another 1.5 million, according to Cuban government officials. However, Casey urged individuals and groups to send humanitarian goods to hurricane victims in Cuba through non-governmental organizations. "We will continue to work through appropriate non-governmental organizations to deliver relief provisions quickly and directly to the Cuban people," he said.

CUBA STOPS SNUBBING EUROPE, SENDS DELEGATION TO FRENCH EMBASSY EVENT IN HAVANA

      HAVANA, CUBA.- After months of snubbing Europe by refusing to attend diplomatic cocktail parties, the Cuban government broke the ice by sending Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and other well-known Cuban figures to the French Embassy for its Bastille Day celebration. Perez Roque spent about an hour at the event Thursday, joined by Abel Prieto, the island's culture minister; Alicia Alonso, the director of the National Ballet of Cuba; and Eusebio Leal, Havana's city historian.

    Cuban officials stopped attending national day events after European embassies in Havana began also inviting dissidents, who came in droves. The move by Europe was part of sanctions imposed against the island after a Cuban crackdown on dissent in 2003 that put 75 political activists behind bars.

    But a new chapter in Cuba-EU relations opened earlier this year when European nations lifted the sanctions, partly in response to Cuba's release of 14 of the 75 political prisoners for medical reasons last year. The French government invited several dissidents to its embassy on Wednesday, a gathering Perez Roque called "irrelevant."

VENEZUELA TO FINANCE ELECTRICITY PROJECT IN CUBA

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Venezuela has approved US$20 million (16.6 million) in low-interest financing to support an electricity project in Cuba, officials said Friday. Venezuela's government Bank of Economic and Social Development said in a statement that the US$93 million (77 million) electricity project in Havana also is receiving financing through the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, to which Venezuela belongs.

    The Venezuelan financing offers Cuba low interest rates and a 35-year repayment period, the bank said in a statement. The financing is one of many cooperative programs with Cuba begun under Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a close friend and ally to Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

    Cuba also has sent thousands of its doctors to treat the poor in Venezuela, while the South American country is sending oil shipments to the island under preferential terms. Details of the electricity project weren't immediately available. The government bank said the loans would come through its Autonomous Fund for International Cooperation. It also said the financing will benefit Venezuelan businesses by allowing them to export materials for the Cuban project.

VENEZUELAN DOCTORS DEMAND SALARY HIKES, PROTEST INCREASING PRESENCE OF CUBANS

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Hundreds of Venezuelan doctors and nurses marched through the capital on Friday demanding more pay under a new labor contract while protesting against the presence of Cuban doctors in the country. Shouting "Fair salaries now!" and hoisting banners reading "No More Cubanization," about 400 doctors and nurses working in public hospitals protested against what organizers of the march said were salaries that had remained unchanged for four years.

    Many also protested against the presence of about 20,000 Cubans - most of them doctors - in Venezuela under the "Inside the Barrio" program, which puts the Cubans to work in poverty-stricken areas nationwide. In exchange for their work, oil-rich Venezuela ships communist-led Cuba 90,000 barrels of oil a day under preferential terms.

    Venezuelan doctors working in public hospitals earn an average monthly salary of 580,000 bolivars (US$269 (223), a wage that has not changed in four years.  The Cuban doctors in Venezuela receive a stipend of US$186 (154) a month from the Venezuelan government, while Cuba continues to pay their families their regular salaries, commonly in the range of US$25 (21) a month.

GRENADE ATTACK ON CNE OFFICES, AN PRESIDENT PUTS THE BLAME ON WASHINGTON

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- A hand grenade was propelled Friday morning towards the local chapter of the National Electoral Council (CNE) in Valencia, the capital city of central Carabobo state, as reported by CNE director Jorge Rodríguez. Rodríguez told official TV channel Venezolana de Televisión that such violent actions would not intimidate voting authorities.

    National Assembly (AN) president Nicolás Maduro (ruling party MVR) disavowed the grenade attack Friday morning on the local chapter of the National Electoral Council (CNE) in Valencia, the capital city of central Carabobo state, and accused "terrorist groups funded by the US government" of the move. "No doubt, the USA  encourages terrorism inside Venezuela," he reasserted.

    According to Maduro, such actions are intended to "produce anarchy in the nation to justify widespread, escalating violence." The AN president acknowledged the existence of "a democratic sector in the opposition" and urged them to move away from violent groups "that simply work for a foreign government, in order to shatter our institutions and hand over our assets to foreign parties."

CASTRO BACKERS ATTACKED DISSIDENTS COMMEMORATING THE SINKING OF THE "13 DE MARZO" TUGBOAT 

      HAVANA, CUBA.- Several dozen dissidents commemorating a deadly 1994 tugboat sinking clashed Wednesday with a larger group of government supporters who shoved and shouted them down. At least two dissidents being detained after the run-in near Havana's Central Park. No major injuries were reported. The midday incident occurred after the dissidents tossed flowers into the ocean from Havana's coastal highway to remember the 41 would-be immigrants who drowned 11 years ago in a tugboat sinking in Havana Bay.

    The dissidents were walking inland along Prado, a major boulevard in central Havana, when government supporters began shouting revolutionary slogans at them. Several dissidents were shoved, but no one was reported hurt. The dissidents carried signs with photographs of people who died in the tugboat sinking, which opponents blame on the government and which authorities maintain was an accident.

    Cubans trying to leave the island with their families seized the government-owned wooden craft on July 13, 1994, and were chased seven miles out to sea by three steel-hulled tugboats. Survivors said the pursuing government boats used high-pressure water hoses and deliberately rammed the wooden craft. Cuba's communist government has said the boats accidentally collided. ''We are revolutionaries,'' said Martha Torres, among several hundred government supporters who confronted the opponents Wednesday. ``We are here to respond to these dissidents who sell out their nation.''

VENEZUELA  HUGO CHAVEZ HITS BACK AT CATHOLIC CRITICS

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused Roman Catholic bishops on Wednesday of opposing his left-wing rule and being "out of touch with reality" after they questioned his populist policies. The firebrand nationalist has clashed publicly in the past with Catholic Church leaders he accuses of siding with the rich against his self-styled "revolution" in Venezuela, which he says is using the country's oil wealth to help the poor.

    Chavez said he had complained this week about the attitude of local bishops to Apostolic Nuncio Monsignor Giacinto Berloco, who presented his credentials as the new Vatican ambassador to the predominantly Roman Catholic nation. "I said to him, look Monsignor, I am Catholic Christian, and I find it difficult to understand the behavior of the Catholic Church elite in Venezuela," Chavez said angrily. "The Catholic hierarchy never gets tired of attacking this government, this revolution," he said during a ceremony in Caracas to distribute housing contracts.

    It was Chavez's strongest attack against local Catholic Church leaders since Pope Benedict was appointed following the death of Pope John Paul in April. The latest outburst followed a statement Tuesday from the Venezuelan bishops in which, while welcoming government anti-poverty policies, they expressed fears these were being corrupted by "political clientelism and misuse of funds". "One can still hear the clamor of so many people who are deprived of the most basic rights of food, health, housing, work and public services," the bishops said.

TWO AMERICAN DIPLOMATS WILL SWAP POSTS

      WASHINGTON, D.C.- The head of the State Department's Cuba desk in Washington since 2002 will swap jobs with the No. 2 man at the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela in a move that one analyst said shows the administration sees the ''same dynamic'' at play in Havana and Caracas . Meanwhile, the top American diplomat in Havana will become ambassador to Paraguay, officials confirmed Tuesday.

    Kevin Whitaker, the coordinator of the Department's office of Cuban affairs, will become deputy chief of mission in Caracas in September. He will be replaced by Stephen McFarland, a career diplomat specializing in Latin America. The swap comes soon after State Department officials confirmed that James Cason, the top U.S. envoy to Havana, will be leaving to become U.S. ambassador to Paraguay. Cason is to be replaced by Michael Parmly, a career diplomat and a specialist in European affairs.

    The diplomatic postings are some of the most sensitive for the Bush administration. Cuba and Venezuela are close allies and sharp critics of Washington. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has repeatedly accused Washington of plotting to topple him, and U.S. officials have suggested that Chávez and Cuban leader Fidel Castro have cooperated to destabilize governments in Latin America. A Cuban analyst  said the administration was recognizing that the ''same dynamic'' was at play in Cuba and Venezuela by keeping diplomats familiar with both nations in top posts. ''Chávez without Castro would have been very different indeed,'' he said.

FRANCE TURNS ITS BACK TO CUBAN DISSIDENTS, INVITES REGIMEN AUTHORITIES TO ITS BASTILLE DAY RECEPTION

      HAVANA, CUBA.- France has invited Cuban authorities to its Bastille Day reception this week, breaking ranks with other European Union countries opposed to rewarding a communist government that silences dissent. Invitations were sent to Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and other members of Cuba's Communist government and cultural milieu for the July 14 event, a French diplomat said Tuesday.

    Relations between Brussels and Havana have been strained since the EU condemned President Fidel Castro's government in 2003 for a crackdown on peaceful dissent that put 75 of his critics behind bars. The EU ended a so-called cocktail war or diplomatic freeze in January by deciding to stop inviting dissidents to national day parties, a policy that had incensed the Cuban government.

    Most of the EU's 25 members states agreed Cuban officials would not be invited either, a stance opposed by Spain, which as former colonial power in Cuba has pushed for full restoration of diplomatic relations. The rapprochement has divided the EU. Newly joined East European members who lived under Communism, such as Poland and the Czech Republic, adamantly oppose what they see as "appeasement" of a repressive government.

HUGO CHAVEZ INSTALLS NEW DEFENSE MINISTER, URGES HIM TO LEAD 'ANTI-IMPERIALIST' FORCE

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Hugo Chavez installed a new defense minister and urged him to help lead Venezuela's military as an "anti-imperialist" force. Chavez, a fierce critic of the U.S. government who frequently calls it "The Empire," appointed new Defense Minister Adm. Orlando Maniglia last week. Speaking in a change-of-command ceremony Tuesday night, Chavez urged Maniglia and other officials "not to lose sight of the goals we still have ahead of us, the rescue of Venezuelan military thought, anti-imperialist thought."

    Maniglia replaces Gen. Jorge Garcia Carneiro, who played a key role in helping Chavez regain power after a brief 2002 coup. Chavez has accused the US of backing the coup. Chavez urged Maniglia to continue with Garcia Carneiro's work, "strengthening the cohesion and unity of the four components of the new Armed Force."

    Enemies of Chavez, a leftist former paratroop commander, accuse him of politicizing the military and trying to install a dictatorship. Chavez and his allies strongly deny it, saying the government supports democracy and professionalism in the military. Chavez, who was first elected in 1998, is up for re-election next year.

U.S. COAST GUARD STEPS UP PATROLS FOR IMMIGRANTS FROM HURRICANE-BATTERED CUBA

      MIAMI, FLORIDA.- The U.S. Coast Guard has increased patrols and aerial surveillance off the south Florida coast, preparing for an increase in the number of migrants from hurricane-battered Cuba trying to reach the United States. Two out-of-town Coast Guard patrol boats have been sent to the Florida Keys, and federal Customs and Border Protection planes and helicopters are adding more aerial surveillance flights. The state highway patrol is checking boats towed southbound to see if they might be used by smugglers.

    The aim is "to disrupt these runs before they even happen, catch 'em on the roads ... before they even get out of the starting gate," said Coast Guard Cmdr. Timothy Ciampaglio in Key West.The number of Cuban migrants trying to reach U.S. shores this year is "significantly above" 2004, Ciampaglio said. During the last fiscal year, 1,225 Cubans were caught trying to make the 90-mile crossing from Havana to Key West. So far in fiscal 2005, which ends in September, the Coast Guard has intercepted 1,834 migrants in the Keys region, making this the busiest season for Cuban migration since 2001.

    "I attribute that to the four hurricanes we had last year and deteriorating conditions in Cuba," Ciampaglio said of the rise in the number of migrants. Hurricane Dennis struck Cuba Friday afternoon, damaging crops and killing at least 16 people as it sliced across the central portion of the Caribbean's largest island. Summer is traditionally the busiest time for Cuban migrants, who set out in homemade craft or pay smugglers to make the crossing. Under the U.S. government's "wet foot, dry foot" policy, Cubans who are intercepted at sea are generally repatriated, while those who reach land are almost always allowed to stay.

BRAZIL GOVERNING PARTY LEADER RESIGNS AMID SCANDAL

      SAO PAULO, BRAZIL.-  The leader of the governing Workers' Party stepped down on Saturday, the third ally of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to resign this week amid charges of corruption. Jose Genoino, Lula da Silva's friend and the party's president for the past two and a half years, asked to be dismissed from his post ``so the party could move forward during this difficult moment.''

   Genoino announced his decision at a news conference during a party committee meeting to address the scandal. His replacement was not announced. Earlier in the week, party treasurer Delubio Soares and party secretary General Silvio Pereira stepped down after allegations that they were involved in paying monthly bribes to congressmen in exchange for their votes on key legislation. Last month, presidential chief of staff Jose Dirceu resigned after accusations that he approved the alleged payoffs.

    All of them have denied the allegations. The Workers' Party and the opposition agreed this week to create a special congressional committee to investigate the corruption allegations. The scandal has tarnished the image of the governing party, long hailed as a bastion of ethics and integrity. Some analysts say it could sink Lula da Silva's chances of reelection, and might even cause his impeachment.

HUGO CHAVEZ CRITICIZES US POLICIES ON TERRORISM  

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Hugo Chavez on Sunday condemned the bombings in London while criticizing Washington's anti-terror policies. Speaking during his weekly television and radio program, Chavez said "we firmly reject" the attacks Thursday that killed 49 people and injured 700. "Nothing can justify the abdominal acts," he said.

    Chavez said world leaders must concentrate on eliminating the causes of terrorism rather than responding "with more terror, which is what the United States has done." The U.S. government "puts more fuel on the fire" by invading countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, said Chavez, one of Latin America's most outspoken critics of U.S. foreign policy.

   Citing poverty and injustice as the underlying causes of terrorism, Chavez proposed that developed countries such as the United States cut defense spending and increase aid to poor nations. "There is no 'good' terrorism and 'bad' terrorism, it's all bad," said Chavez, who accused the Bush administration of protecting Luis Posada Carriles, a Cuban militant wanted by Venezuela for his alleged role in the 1976 bombing of a Cuban jetliner that killed 73 people.

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF CUBAN HOMES DESTROYED BY HURRICANE DENNIS 

      HAVANA, CUBA.- Havana's 2.2 million people had virtually no electricity and only spotty phone service Saturday, one day after Hurricane Dennis killed 10 people on the island and became the deadliest storm to hit Cuba in 40 years. Wooden homes tumbled to the ground in piles of timber. Corrugated zinc sheeting used for roofs flew off, soaking homes and trashing streets. Sugar mills lost their walls, and radio towers toppled.  ''The older houses didn't make it,'' one resident of a small town near Sancti Spiritus, in central Cuba, told the Herald in a phone interview. “My mother's house came right down. What can you do but clean it up when the weather improves?''

    Most of the worst damage was reported in the southeastern provinces of Granma and Santiago, brushed by Dennis Friday as it headed northwest toward Havana and later moved into the Gulf of Mexico early Saturday.  More than 15,000 houses that made up 76 percent of the houses in the Granma towns of Niquero and Pilón were damaged or destroyed by the storm's 150 mph winds, according to reports in the main provincial newspaper, La Demajagua. A Communist Party official in Granma province reported to Castro on Friday that of the 128 homes in the coastal town of Cabo Cruz, only 11 remained standing.

    In Pilón, with 8,300 homes, 6,000 were damaged or destroyed. And in Niquero, 9,420 of the 11,776 homes were damaged, the official said.   Near the city of Santiago, the Great Baconao Park, a World Heritage Biosphere Reserve known for its prehistoric valley, a replica coffee plantation and a car museum, was brutally hit by the storm, according to the province's Sierra Maestra newspaper. The 10 who died -- eight in Granma and two in Santiago -- did not heed warnings to evacuate, officials said. Another death was the result of a baby suffocating while being pressed against the mother's chest, news reports said.

CUBA BLAMES THE UNITED STATES FOR NO BASEBALL AT THE 2012 OLYMPICS IN LONDON

      HAVANA, CUBA.- Cuba blamed the major leagues Friday for the sport being dropped from the 2012 Olympics. Cuba has won three of the four gold medals since baseball was first played at the Olympics - in 1992, 1996 and 2004. The United States won the gold in 2000, with Cuba getting the silver.

    "Those who bear most of the blame are the owners of the professional leagues who refuse to free up their ballplayers to compete," Cuban Baseball Federation president Carlos Rodriguez told The Associated Press. "It's a shame because this decision will disappoint millions of young people who practice and love this sport," Rodriguez added. Rodriguez said Cuba would continue to make baseball a key part of its sports program because "it is the national sport, it is part of our culture."

    Alexander Mayeta, the first baseman for Havana's Industriales team, called the decision to drop baseball "hard and unjust." He added that for a Cuban player, "the greatest pride is to be an Olympic champion." "My dream has been to play in the Olympic finals," added Mayeta, who had 14 homers and hit .330 last season. "I'm going to train even harder, do everything possible to make sure Cuba gets to the 2008 Games. That gold medal is more important than ever. We cannot lose it."

HUGO CHAVEZ SAYS CUBA, VENEZUELA WOULD FIGHT ATTACK AS ONE

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Any "imperialist" attack against either Cuba or Venezuela would be resisted by both nations as one, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday in an apparent reference to the United States. Chavez routinely condemns the United States as a hostile "imperialist" power he says is bent on invading Venezuela to seize its oil wealth and topple or kill him, a charge U.S. officials reject as ridiculous.

    "The Cuban and Venezuelan peoples and revolutions are one and the same," the left-wing leader said during a ceremony at which he awarded decorations to more than 90 Cuban teachers who had worked in a Venezuelan literacy program. "The world should know, in case there's anyone out there who hasn't realized it yet ... that any imperialist attack against one of us will be an attack against both," he said.

    But President Bush's administration often criticizes Chavez's close alliance with Cuban President Fidel Castro, who also regularly warns his people to be alert for the threat of attack by the United States. Washington maintains trade sanctions against Communist-ruled Cuba. U.S. officials have accused Chavez and Castro of joining forces to stir up anti-U.S. revolution in Latin America.

COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT SUSPECTS IRISHMEN MAY BE HIDING IN CUBA 

      COLOMBIA, BOGOTÁ.- Colombian authorities suspect three Irishmen convicted of training Marxist rebels in bomb-making techniques might be hiding out in Cuba, a local Interpol official said Saturday. "We have intelligence reports to that effect," Victor Cruz told local Caracol Television, adding that Interpol had asked Cuba to see if it can find the three men the Colombian government says are Irish Republican Army guerrillas.

    Jim Monaghan, Niall Connolly and Martin McCauley disappeared after being allowed out of a Bogota prison a year ago following their acquittal -- later reversed -- on charges of helping members of the FARC. In December, a Bogota tribunal ordered the men be rearrested to serve sentences up to 17 1/2 years but authorities admitted they had lost track of them and believed they defied a court order to stay in the country.

    Connolly was once a Cuba representative of Sinn Fein. McCauley was convicted in Northern Ireland of firearms offenses in 1985, while Monaghan has a conviction in the Irish Republic for possessing explosives in the 1970s. The Colombian government says the FARC has used techniques learned from the IRA in a mortar attack against President Alvaro Uribe's inauguration ceremony in August 2002, which killed 21 homeless people.

HURRICANE DENNIS TARGETS CUBA

      HAVANA, CUBA.- Hurricane Dennis gathered strength with extremely dangerous 150-mph winds as it bore down on central Cuba Friday and was on track for the Gulf of Mexico. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said the eye of Dennis would hit Cuba Friday afternoon and head into the eastern Gulf early Saturday. Dennis is the strongest Atlantic hurricane to form this early in the season since records began in 1851.

    Hurricane winds and heavy rainfall knocked down power lines and communication towers in southeastern Cuba, but the island of 11 million braced for worse as Dennis headed for landfall near the city of Cienfuegos. At the nearby Bay of Pigs, buses evacuated residents. Panicky inhabitants of Havana, lined up at gasoline stations and bakeries to stock up with fuel and bread. Authorities suspended all school classes in Cuba and evacuated 200,000 people from coastal areas. The hurricane was expected to barrel through Cuba and out anywhere between Havana and the beach resort of Varadero, Cuban forecasters said.

TRIAL ORDERED FOR VENEZUELA CHAVEZ FOE WHO MET PRESIDENT BUSH 

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- A Venezuelan opposition figure who was received by President Bush will go on trial with three colleagues accused of conspiring to change the government using U.S. funds, a judge ruled Thursday. Maria Corina Machado and three other members of her Sumate group, which helped organize a referendum against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez nearly a year ago, are being charged with "conspiracy to change Venezuela's republican system."

Judge Norma Sandoval ordered that Machado, Alejandro Plaz, Luis Enrique Palacios and Ricardo Estevez should be tried in court but did not set a date. She ruled they could remain at liberty until the trial took place. "For us in Sumate, it's very clear this persecution is intended to intimidate us," Machado told reporters. One of Venezuela's best-known opposition figures, Machado met President Bush at the White House May 31. The heavily publicized meeting further strained already tense ties between Venezuela and its biggest energy client, the United States.

PRESIDENT BUSH ORDERS U.S. VIGILANCE AFTER LONDON BLASTS 

      GLENEABLES, SCOTLAND.- U.S. President George W. Bush directed U.S. security authorities on Thursday to be extra vigilant and take precautions in response to a series of apparently coordinated attacks in London. Bush offered a statement of U.S. solidarity with Britain while attending a Group of Eight summit that was temporarily suspended as world leaders were briefed on the situation in London.

    "The war on terror goes on," Bush told reporters. "I was most impressed by the resolve of all the leaders in the room. Their resolve is as strong as my resolve. And that is, we will not yield to these people, will not yield to the terrorists." He gave no hint as to who he thought might be responsible but he used words similar to his frequent denunciations of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Iraq. "We will find them. We will bring them to justice. And at the same time we will spread an ideology of hope and compassion that will overwhelm their ideology of hate," Bush said.

POWER BLACKOUTS SPARK PROTESTS IN CENTRAL CUBA

      SANTA CLARA, CUBA.- Power blackouts in several municipalities in central Cuba have touched off protests by residents. Several people were injured in Placetas on Sunday night when customers of the "Centro Cuba" cabaret protested the loss of light. The customers, mainly youths, poured into the street, shouting anti-government remarks and hurling bottles and rocks through storefront plate-glass windows.

    At the same time, others took advantage of the protests to throw fliers with anti-Castro slogans. Before dawn on Saturday, protesters went to the facilities of the Provincial Electric Company of Villa Clara in Santa Clara to complain about power blackouts. About 30 persons, including women and children, shouted demands for an explanation for the shortages of electrical power. A truck belonging to the Electric Company of the municipality of Ranchuelo was stoned on Friday by residents protesting power outages. A headlight was broken and the truck's body dented.

AT LEAST 50 KILLED Y 700 WOUNDED IN A SERIES OF COORDINATED BLASTS IN LONDON

      LONDON, ENGLAND.- A series of coordinated rush-hour explosions blasted the transportation system across an arc of central London Thursday, injuring at least 700 people and killing more than 37 with the numbers expected to rise. The explosives detonated on at least three trains moving through London's vast subway system and on a bus, which had its roof torn off by the blast. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said was an apparent terrorist attack.

    One worker said he had removed "several" bodies from the train and "at least 13" remained there. The fire brigade has now left the station, he said, and it was now a crime scene.  Three of the blasts took place in the city's subway system and one more hit a double-decker bus, all at the height of rush hour. A previously unknown group calling itself the "Secret Organization group of al-Qaeda of Jihad in Europe" released a statement claiming responsibility for the bombings.

    It could not confirm the authenticity of the statement, which was posted on a web site connected to Islamic radicals. International SOS, an international medical emergency service, reported that the police had found explosive traces in at least one of four confirmed blast locations. Hospital officials have reported at least 700 wounded. London transit officials shut down the entire Underground and stopped buses in the central city district. "We are dealing with large numbers of casualties," he said, "and we believe a number of fatalities."

TOP U.S. DIPLOMAT IN CUBA SAYS POLICY WILL PERSEVERE AFTER HIS DEPARTURE

      HAVANA, CUBA.- America's top diplomat in Cuba said that the United States' hardline stance against the communist country will persevere long after he leaves in the fall. James C. Cason, called divisive and provocative during his nearly three years as head of the American mission in Havana, said his successor will be equally unwavering in carrying out U.S. policy that opposes Fidel Castro's government and encouraging Cuban activists fighting for change.

"There is no reason to believe there will be any loosening of anything we do," Cason said on Wednesday at his luxurious home in a residential Havana suburb. "Fidel said there couldn't be anyone worse than me - he may be sorry." His successor has not been officially announced, but Cason said the candidate served in Afghanistan and has worked on human rights issues. Cason, who leaves Sept. 10 upon completion of his scheduled tour of duty, has been the Cuban dictator's No. 1 nemesis on the island since arriving to Havana in the fall of 2002.

CUBAN MINISTER IN CHARGE OF ENERGY SUFFERS A BLACKOUT

      SANTA CLARA, CUBA.- Yadira García Vera, the minister of Basic Industry, was participating in a meeting on Cuba's ongoing electrical shortage when the lights went out, an occurrence she had promised to prevent. Sources close to the local committee of the Communist Party said that embarrassed party officials offered their apologies to the minister after the blackout June 23 at the theater of the Central University. Power was restored when an emergency generator was put into service.

That evening, the minister experienced another power shortage at a government security center where she was staying. She was then taken to the Granjita tourism area where emergency generators guarantee a continuous flow of electricity. García Vera was named Basic Industry minister last summer after Marcos Portal was forced to resign after a five-month energy crisis which the new minister promised to resolve.

CHÁVEZ SAYS ARMY RESERVE IS GROWING AND READY TO DEFEND THE COUNTRY

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA.-  Venezuela's army reserve is growing and ready to defend the country if attacked, President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday while presiding over a military parade marking Venezuela's independence. Chavez said the reserve corps was "practically an army" and would defeat foreign troops if they were to invade the country.

    "There is no invader who could handle the Venezuelan people armed to the teeth," Chavez said after heavily-armed soldiers and reservists marched through Fort Tiuna. Reserve troops wore new olive green uniforms as they marched.

    There are roughly 90,000 part-time troops in the reserve corps, according to top generals commanding reserve battalions in Caracas while the armed forces have roughly 100,000 soldiers. Reservists now receive training twice a month, and the entire corps will be equipped with automatic rifles. "Each soldier in the reserve will have his individual weapon," said Chavez.

FEEBLE MILITARY PARADE

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA.-  No planes formation or parachutists jumping out of the aircraft, but Tiuna vehicles made in Venezuela and armored cars, earmarked the "hasty" military parade to commemorate the 194th anniversary of the Independence Day. Only 12,600 troops and 6 senior officers, generals and admirals took part in the ceremony, as opposed to "the monumental parade" of the reserve from all over the country.

    The air exhibition was not included due to "bad weather," and only the troops deployed in Caracas and some central states took part in the parade. As a result, the ceremony last July 5th was the shortest of the seven ones led by President Chávez. It lasted only 1.40 hours.

    However, the ruler called "effective and extraordinary" the army exhibition. The parade, he claimed, "showed" the units operational level and army "cohesion." "It has been a unity parade, showing discipline and high degree of training.The monumental parade of the reserve is noteworthy. We can say it -reserve is technically an army," President Chávez said at the end of the ceremony.

CUBAN COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT JAILED MORE THAN A DOZEN DISSIDENTS

      HAvANA, CUBA.- Cuba's communist government has jailed 13 more political opponents this year, most on charges of "dangerousness," a veteran rights activist reported Tuesday. The report released Tuesday by the Havana-based Cuban Commission on Human Rights and Reconciliation said the total number of political prisoners was 306.

    The charges against those jailed highlight the government's practice of making ambiguous accusations against its opponents, said Elizardo Sanchez, president of the commission, which releases the reports. The list includes most of the 75 dissidents arrested in March 2003, even though 14 of those were freed on parole last year.

    Of those 14, two of them were taken off the list because they left Cuba after their release. Sanchez said the other 12 remained on the list because they could be returned to custody if they violate parole.

SECOND BRAZIL RULING PARTY OFFICIAL STEPS ASIDE

      SAO PAULO, BRAZIL.- A second Brazilian ruling party leader stepped aside amid a bribery probe while President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva tried to complete a Cabinet shake-up to bolster his government. Workers' Party Treasurer Delubio Soares asked to be relieved of his duties one day after Secretary General Silvio Pereira made a similar request, said Sen. Eduardo Suplicy, who was taking part in a party leadership meeting in Sao Paulo.

There was pressure for President Jose Genoino to quit as well. Party chiefs were to meet over the weekend during which Genoino's fate was expected to be decided. Soares has denied all charges.  Last month the head of a small party accused the Workers' Party of making cash payments to lawmakers to secure their support in Congress.

Veja magazine reported over the weekend that Genoino and Soares were guarantors of a loan to the party from a businessman accused of involvement in the scheme.

JAMES CASON, THE COURAGEOUS HEAD OF THE AMERICAN MISSION IN CUBA, DEFENDS ADVOCACY OF CUBAN DISSIDENTS

      LA HABANA, CUBA.- James C. Cason, the courageous head of the American mission in Cuba, defended his outspoken advocacy of dissidents during a July 4 celebration Monday night, marking the last public address of his three-year tour on the island. Responding to criticism he has continuously provoked Fidel Castro's government since arriving here in 2002, Cason took issue with "those who think it's more dignified to protest the Cuban regime's repression behind closed doors." "Is it provocative to point out that Cubans live under one of the most repressive regimes in the world?"

Cason asked several hundred people at an American Independence Day celebration at his official residence. The garden party - Cason's last major event before he leaves in the fall - featured a cookout, a live zydeco band from Louisiana, white and blue bunting and a U.S. Marine Corps color guard. After Cason's speech, workers unveiled a three-story-high metal sculpture of the Statue of Liberty, its silhouette traced in blue electrical lights and holding a torch traced in yellow bulbs forming the number "75" - the number of dissidents rounded up Cuba's crackdown on opponents in March 2003.

 "Is it provocative to remind western journalists of Cuba's 300 political prisoners?" Cason asked. "Is it outside the scope of normal diplomatic activity to provide uncensored information to Cubans?" "Nothing will come - indeed, in almost 47 years nothing has come - from being polite to a dictator," he said of Castro, who has repeatedly referred to the top American diplomat in Cuba as a "bully with diplomatic immunity." 

UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR: VENEZUELA COOPERATION SLIPPING

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA.-  A decline in cooperation between Venezuelan and U.S. authorities has weakened efforts to fight terrorism and drug trafficking, the U.S. ambassador to the South American country said. "On the issue of illegal drugs, we have a situation where we have a reduction in cooperation between some police forces," U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield said in an interview broadcast Sunday on the Venezuelan television station Televen.

"I wish we could have more cooperation in passing along more information on matters of terrorism, the movement of specific people, Brownfield said, without giving details. U.S.-Venezuelan relations have been marked by tensions during President Hugo Chavez's more than six years in power. Chavez's close ties to Cuban dictaro Fidel Castro and his frequent criticisms of the U.S. government have coincided with U.S. officials' repeated statements of concern about his increasing domination of Venezuelan politics.

U.S. officials have denied Chavez's repeated accusations of backing plots against him, including a short-lived coup in 2002. The United States remains the top buyer of oil from Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter. Venezuela's location next to Colombia also has made it a major transit point for Colombian cocaine headed for the United States and Europe.

DESPITE A SOUNDING DEFEAT IN THE U.S. CONGRESS LAST WEEK, AMERICAN FARMERS ARES PUSHING FOR MORE TRADE WITH CUBA 

      HAVANA, CUBA.- Conservative American farmers, businessmen and some Republican lawmakers are opposing the U.S. policy limiting trade with the island. As Congress voted down amendments to the policy last week, those pushing for more interaction with Cuba questioned how the embargo can endure.

    "Will someone please explain this policy to me?" Dwight A. Roberts, the Texan president of the U.S. Rice Producers Association, asked a recent news conference in Havana after describing financial losses to thousands of rice growers when U.S. restrictions were tightened. U.S. food and agricultural products can be sold to Cuba on a cash-only basis under an exception to the embargo created in 2000. But a new U.S. rule adopted this year makes Cuba pay for goods in full before the cargo leaves U.S. ports, forcing the island to seek other markets and harming American business, Roberts said.

U.S. officials defend the policy, saying unfettered trade and travel to the island would prop up Castro's government. "How can we think about easing restrictions against this monster when he continues to plunder and terrorize 11 million of our brothers and sisters?" U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen asked in a statement applauding last week's House vote. "The Congress should not be making life easier for the brutal Castro regime."

HUGO CHAVEZ APPOINTS NEW DEFENSE MINISTER

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA.- Hugo Chavez appointed a navy admiral as Venezuela's defense minister, replacing an army general who helped him regain power after a brief 2002 coup. Chavez, speaking Monday to soldiers at the country's main military base, named Admiral Orlando Maniglia as defense minister, replacing Gen. Jorge Garcia Carneiro.

Garcia Carneiro led efforts to restore Chavez to power after rebel officers ousted the president on April 12, 2002, hours after 19 people died when opposition supporters clashed with pro-Chavez protesters. Garcia Carneiro, who was appointed defense minister in January 2004, also stood by Chavez during a 2003 strike, helping the president use the armed forces to regain control of the nation's vital oil industry. During his speech broadcast on state television, Chavez, a former paratroop commander-turned-socialist, did not give a reason for the changes.

BRAZIL'S MARKETS FALL ON RENEWAL POLITICAL JITTERS

      SAO PAULO, BRAZIL.-Brazil's currency and stocks sank on Monday after new corruption allegations published by local magazines over the weekend stoked concerns about a deepening political scandal. Brazil's currency, the real , weakened 0.72 percent to 2.374 per dollar. Volume was low as many foreign investors were off for the U.S. Independence Day, traders said.

    Political woes mounted after Veja magazine reported that Marcos Valerio, the owner of an advertising agency with lucrative government contracts, co-signed and eventually paid part of a 2.4 million reais ($1 million) bank loan received by the ruling Workers' Party, or PT. Valerio was previously accused by Roberto Jefferson, the former leader of a government coalition party, of working for a PT-sponsored bribery scheme in Congress. Both the PT and Valerio denied wrongdoing but the party's Treasurer, Delubio Soares, admitted Valerio guaranteed the loan.

    "People are talking about the weekend allegations," said Alvaro Bandeira, director at Agora Senior brokerage in Rio de Janeiro. "It is possible that the market recoups if there is a positive reaction" from the government or the PT, he added. The latest allegations sparked expectations that key PT officials might resign and could complicate a pending Cabinet reshuffle planned by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is trying to distance himself from the corruption scandal.

VENEZUELA AMMUNITION SEIZED ON FARC

     BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA.- The Colombian Navy seized a cargo of 70,000 fusil bullets in river Orinoco, on the Colombian-Venezuelan border on its way to Front 16 of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC, authorities reported. The ammunition of different calibers and of Russian and Venezuelan origin was carried on a boat at the level of Puerto Ayacucho, the capital city of Venezuelan Amazonas state, but on waters under the jurisdiction of the Colombian department of Vichada, DPA reported.

    During the clashes with FARC the navy captured two rebels. Last May 30, over 500,000 bullets of Indonesian origin were seized in the Colombian jungle. However, according to AFP, the new seizure would involve Venezuelan ammunition. Recently the Colombian army found also 985 military camouflaged uniforms made in Venezuela in the Colombian department of Vichada.

BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR TAKES HELM AT EUROPEAN UNION, CHARTS VISION

      LONDON, GREAT BRITAIN.- British Prime Minister Tony Blair took over the European Union's six-month rotating presidency Friday and said he saw little chance of rescuing the EU constitution after its rejection last month by French and Dutch voters. Blair said he intended to fight for a new vision of the EU, one that equips Europeans to compete in a global economy and modernizes expensive French-style social and worker protections. Blair said that he will host an EU summit to assess the direction and speed of European integration.

    The purpose of the autumn summit was to review how Europe's treasured social model is economically hobbling the continent and to see if the 25 leaders can rekindle public enthusiasm about the EU's future. But no specific date for the summit was set. The prime minister said he will ask the leaders to revisit their goal to make Europe the world's most dynamic economy by 2010, an undertaking launched in 2000 but one that has missed many targets already.

    Blair said the French and Dutch charter rejection reflected an ill-defined but deep-seated sense among the bloc's population that the EU is out of touch with public opinion and not acting on sensitive issues such as immigration, crime and security. He pledged to try hard in the second half of this year to get agreement on an EU budget for the years after 2007. "Whether that is possible I really don't know. Nor does anyone else at this stage," he added.

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NIXES EASING CUBAN TRAVEL SANCTIONS

      WASHINGTON. D.C.- The House voted Thursday against permitting Cuban-Americans to visit their families in Cuba more frequently and for retaining a trade embargo that has been in place since 1960. The 211-208 vote reversed a trend in Congress in recent years toward relaxing some travel sanctions on Cuba. A similar vote last year - to permit Cubans who have claimed asylum in the United States to visit the island more frequently than every three years - produced a 225-174 tally to ease travel rules.

    Congressional supporters of maintaining the U.S. government's tough regimen of trade and travel sanctions credit a redoubled lobbying and education effort for their success - as well as continued bad behavior by communist dictator Fidel Castro. The votes Thursday came on a bill funding the Transportation and Treasury departments for the budget year beginning Oct. 1.

    Earlier this month, the House voted 216-210 against relaxing rules on the shipment of gift parcels to Cuba. Last year the House had voted to ease rules on such parcels, which U.S. relatives often use to ship toiletries and staples to Cuba. The chamber also voted 250-169 to keep the economic embargo in place.

PETROCARIBE BORN IN DOUBT

      PUERTO LA CRUZ, VENEZUELA.- Despite all logistic troubles during the First Energy Meeting on Petrocaribe, it should be noted that the staff hosting the event hit the target by taking the appropriate pictures before the complicated second working session of the heads of state and government who attended the event in the city of Puerto La Cruz.

   Hugo Chávez explained the extent and benefits of the agreement. Except for Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, who once in a while interrupted briefly his Venezuelan counterpart, guests listened carefully and quietly to the presentation. However, after the monologue, the guests opened their mouths and asked questions that many observers considered as clearly answered. "Is our involvement restricted to fuel procurement? Does the agreement bind us to some exclusiveness with Venezuela? Because we also buy oil from Trinidad & Tobago and Suriname," Guyana Prime Minister Samuel Hinds wondered.

    Overwhelming remarks came from Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister. "This entails that Venezuelan byproducts will have competitive advantage as compared to my nation's products. I think you forgot about our supply, and we would like to analyze further this proposal. This is troublesome, as some facilities are owned by multinational corporations, and they are not state property."

RICE SOLD UNDER RATIONING PLAN HAD WORMS IN IT

     SANTA CLARA, CUBA.- The government food distribution network sold wormy rice in Caibarién under the food rationing plan. Consumers complained the worms were so big they could be mistaken for grains of rice.

    At the La Estrella establishment, one unhappy consumer, Yakenia Hernández, said: "This is more worms than rice; they are going to kill us." At the Unidad 35 outlet, Yanet Bermúdez said: "Any day now, they'll give us worms instead of rice." The quota rice, sold at 25 centavos a pound, is five pounds per person per month. Rice is a staple in the Cuban diet.

UNITED STATES SENATE REJECTS ATTEMPT TO EASE CUBA TRAVEL

      WASHINGTON, D.C.- ORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA.- The U.S. Senate on Wednesday rejected a proposal to ease American travel restrictions to Cuba that would have allowed a Cuban-American veteran of the Iraq war to visit his ill son. A majority of senators supported the idea to open travel to Cuba when humanitarian concerns were at play, voting 60-35 for the measure, but under a Senate agreement, two-thirds of senators, or 67, were needed to win passage of the measure.

    Sen. Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, proposed the legislation, attached to an unrelated spending bill, to help Sgt. Carlos Lazo travel to Havana to visit his 16-year-old son. It would also have helped others in Lazo's situation. Dorgan said it was unforgivable that an Iraq war veteran was being barred from visiting his sick son.

    Sen. John Ensign, a Nevada Republican, countered that it was "a good thing" that hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars were not flowing into Cuba because of travel restrictions. Lazo, who fled Cuba on a raft in 1992, according to an aide to Dorgan, was deployed to Iraq in March, 2004. The decorated soldier returned to the United States last June.

CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO SAYS VENEZUELA SUMMIT POSSIBLY THE FIRST WITHOUT ASSASSINATION PLOT

     PUERTO LA CRUZ, VENEZUELA.- Cuban dictator Fidel Castro said his visit to Venezuela for a Caribbean oil summit Wednesday could be his first overseas trip during which someone hasn't tried to assassinate him. Castro told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and other Caribbean leaders that his last-minute decision to attend the summit in Venezuela might have thrown off those plotting against him.

    "This is possibly the first visit made in which there was no plan to attack me, simply because I wasn't going to make the trip," said Castro, citing assassination plots thwarted during past summits. "During 40 years, every time I have left the country they have organized plans to attack me, without exception," he said.

    Castro said he decided to come at the last minute after hearing Chavez talk about the meeting on television. Castro added that he occasionally uses two airplanes - one as a decoy - when attending summits to confuse militants bent on assassinating him. "I had have to make things up all may life in order to survive, which is a miracle," Castro said. "You are a miracle, Fidel," said Chavez, a loyal admirer of the Cuban tyrant.

OIL ACCORD SUPPORTED BY CHAVEZ, CASTRO TO BRING CHEAPER FUEL TO CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES 

     PUERTO LA CRUZ, VENEZUELA.- Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez and top officials from 14 other Caribbean countries met for talks Wednesday on a Venezuelan plan to sell fuel more cheaply to the region as world oil prices remained high. They planned to sign an accord that would distribute Chavez's fuel on preferential terms.

    "Today I propose to the Caribbean that we form an energy alliance," Chavez told the visiting delegations, saying the oil plan would be a new force for integration. The initiative could help small Caribbean nations save a projected US$6 a barrel on fuel through flexible payments and direct shipping.

    "What Venezuela is doing is proposing, in the most disinterested way, to provide support to the smallest countries, which are facing tense situations and rising prices," Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said as the talks began at a resort in Puerto La Cruz on the country's Caribbean coast. "None of us, not a single country, is anything if we don't unite our efforts," Castro said after stepping off a jet together with Chavez. Cuba's domestic news agency AIN said it was Castro's eighth visit to Venezuela since his revolutionary triumph in 1959.