Bloggers of The Americas

Yesterday Chile, today Costa Rica, tomorrow Brazil.-

President Elect Laura Chinchilla with Nobel Prize Winner and President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias.

San Jose de Costa Rica, February.- The President elect of Costa Rica, is the socially conservative Laura Chinchilla. She is a pro-business activist and hails from the party of incumbent President Oscar Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize winner for his work in the 1980s to end Central America’s wars.

Chinchilla’s victory was widely seen as a vote for continuity in a politically stable country that enjoys one of the region’s highest standards of living.

It’s the first time Costa Rica has chosen a woman to lead the nation. Chile and Argentina are the other countries with female chief executives in Latin America. In the past, Doña Violeta Barrios de Chamorro was President in Nicaragua. Also Panama did have a female president.

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Cuban journalist arrested for “disobedience”

Cuba, February 3rd.- Members of the National Revolutionary Police arrested Juan Carlos Reyes Ocaña near his home in Holguín on charges of insult, disobedience, and illicit economic activity, EFE and Reporters without Borders (RSF) report. Reyes works for the Holguín Press news agency.

The journalist was released the following day, but he started a hunger strike as he waits to be tried and possibly jailed for his offense, RSF adds.

“The regime continues to harass bloggers, deal out unfair detentions and ill-treat prisoners of opinion as it refuses to tolerate any news outside its control,” RSF says.

Caracas, January 25th.- The private TV channel Radio Caracas Television International (RCTVI) disappeared at midnight on Sunday of the private TV cable programming, and RCTV claims that the Venezuelan government had ordered his exclusion.
Amid protests from private canal workers and their managers, the channel stopped broadcasting for cable subscription services. Chavez persecution of RCTV started in 2007, when RCTV  was forced to cease their open air broadcating due to their license was not renewed by the government of President Hugo Chávez.
Just before midnight , the private channel issued a statement in which he denounced the Government, which through the governmental National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel), had gone to subscription broadcasting services and ordered them to exclude International RCTV offer.

“We have coordinated with the Cuban authorities the authority to make medical evacuation flights from the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo to Miami, Florida, saving 90 minutes per flight,” said the White House in a statement.

This will allow U.S. planes to fly over Cuba en route to and from Guantanamo, situated in the southernmost part of the island.

The agreement makes an aside decades of animosity by the Cold War between Washington and Fidel Castro´s regime, while international efforts are made to help the wounded and about 300,000 Haitians homeless following the earthquake of 7.0 degrees. 

United States has used the base, turned into a detention center for suspected “war on terror” – to give medical treatment to the Haitians already evacuated.

Friday’s announcement could alleviate the logistical problems in Port-au-Prince. Until now, the Haitians received little help as they face the fourth day of the crisis.

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Minister Velasco said that Congress will pass “quickly” entry of Chile to the OECD.

Santiago de Chile, January 12th, 2010.- ”On 15 December 2009 the OECD invited us to become members. We thinked about it dureing the last four weeks and today we said yes, after a courtship of almost two years , we have been working a lot for this agreement, “said the minister.  The Finance Minister Andres Velasco said he was now confident that Congress will pass quickly the two bodies of law that will formalize the entry of Chile to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). 

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Chavez wants to film “socialist soap operas” for TV.
 

Caracas , January 10th.- The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, called Sunday to produce “socialist TV soap operas”, in accordance to the “revolutionary process” in the country.

“I will ask  them to make socialist soap operas, other than the capitalists ones,” Chavez said, addressing two Venezuelan writers and filmmakers invited to his Sunday radio talkshow ”Alo Presidente”.

“I recently went to Cuba and they do not have capitalist soap operas, but  socialists,” he said.

The president also offered his support to producers who are interested in developing this type of audiovisual projects.

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Bolivian President Evo Morales appointed former Miss Bolivia (24 years old) as his governor candidate.

Ex Miss Bolivia is Evo Morales candidate for Governor in Bolivia.

La Paz, January 7th.-  President Evo Morales appointed the former Miss Bolivia Jessica Jordan (2007) as his gubernatorial candidate for the Amazonian department of Beni (northeastern of Bolivia)  for regional elections next April 4.

“It will be the only female governor in Bolivia. It was a difficult decision, but we considered her youth and ability,” said the head of state as reasons behind his decission to submit the candidacy of  the statuesque catwalk model who has walked several continents.

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 Chilean Elections: Piñera leads in vote intention.

Santiago de Chile, January 7th.- The rightist candidate Sebastián Piñera, with 46.1% ,  is 5.1 points ahead of the pro-government candidate Eduardo Frei in the voting intention for the Jan. 17 balloting in Chile, while 12.9% would vote blank or null , according to a poll released Saturday.

Piñera obtained 46.1% of the vote against 41% of Frei, in a survey conducted by the newspaper El Mercurio and Voices SA, the third survey conducted after the first round on 13 December.

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Quito will be the headquarters of the UNASUR.

Quito, January 2nd. 2010.-  Ecuador will be the permanent headquarters of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). The tender to begin construction of the building will begin in two months. The building  is to be built on land located in the “centro del mundo” in Quito. This was confirmed by Marjorie Ulloa, representative (responsible) from UNASUR.

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U.S. Dollar: Iglesias predicted a currency  multipolar order.

Uruguay, December 31st.2009 - Iberoamerican Secretary General indicated that it will happen as a result of the loss of dollar hegemony. The economist Enrique Iglesias, Iberoamerican General Secretary and former chairman of the Inter-American Development Bank (1988-2005), predicted  the establishment of a multipolar order currency in the global economy due to loss of dollar hegemony.

“I am convinced that the primacy of the dollar as virtually unique is over and must share the global monetary stewardship with other currencies from very strong economies,” Iglesias told AFP.

The secretary gral. of the SEGIB added that the dollar will no longer be the dominant currency as it was in the past “and saw” ups and downs “in its future trading, but warned that the economic cycle” can be strengthened to the extent that the U.S. economy has enormous vitality ” .

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More African immigrants to Latin America.

December 25th, 2009-Rio de Janeiro – As European countries tighten up border controls, more and more Africans fleeing war and poverty in their homelands are landing at ports in Latin America. While some arrive in Mexico as a stepping stone to reach the United States, others find themselves in Brazil and Argentina after sneaking aboard cargo ships in African ports they mistakenly thought were bound for Europe.
More than 6,000 African immigrants now live in Brazil, up from just a few hundreds eight years ago, and almost a third of the nation’s asylum seekers are from Africa.
In Brazil, Africans are now the largest refugee group, making up 65 percent of all asylum seekers, according to the country’s national committee for refugees.
“The migratory policies of the country are very favorable,” said Fernando Manzanares, Argentina’s immigration director. His office is next to a building where many immigrants received their first meal; today it’s a museum of their photographs, luggage and other belongings.
“It’s a reflection of history. What happened with European immigrants 100 years ago is now happening with African immigrants,” he said.
In the 1990s, Brazil received a large number of Angolans fleeing from the civil war. Now Congolese immigrants are escaping violence back home and seeking asylum in Brazil, which has the largest black population outside Africa.
“The adaptation process is really good,” said Carolina Montenegro of UNHCR Brazil. “For Africans it tends to be easier because of this cultural heritage.”
Many africans migrate to Argentina.
“You never used to see an African man in the streets of Buenos Aires. It’s a search for new destinations,” said Carolina Podesta from the Argentine office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
Migrants have also been forced to look for alternatives because of tougher immigration policies in European countries and a crackdown on border security since 9/11, Podesta said.
“We’re seeing a tendency that’s on the rise and that will continue growing,” she said.
Immigrants, mainly from Senegal, Egypt, Nigeria and Ghana, usually come as stowaways or obtain a Brazilian visa and reach Argentina crossing the border by land.
But adapting to a new life in Argentina can be hard in a country where in the last census more than 97 percent of the population describe themselves as white.
Many African immigrants said they had also been discriminated against because of their skin color. But they said it was minor compared to the xenophobia African migrants face in Europe.

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COMMUNIST DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO GETTING TOUGH ON DEMOCRATIC ELECTED PRESIDENT OBAMA.-

Chavez meeting Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl in Havana.

December 21st, Havana, Cuba – Latin America’s leftist leaders ended here a two-day summit of the leftist organization ALBA with some tough words for the United States. During the ALBA Summit , Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez read aloud a letter from ailing cuban dictator Fidel Castro, who insisted that the United States is again on the offensive in Latin America. “The real intentions of the empire are obvious,” Castro wrote, “this time, hidden behind the friendly smile and the African-American face of President Barack Obama.”

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Chilean Elections: Liberal Conservative Sebastian Piñera wins first round.

Sebastian Piñera

Santiago de Chile, December 11th.- Bolstered by a comfortable margin and with less than three days to the presidential election, the liberal conservative Sebastian Piñera closed his campaign with a massive rally in Santiago de Chile, in contrast to his rivals-the officialist Eduardo Frei and the dissident Marco Enríquez – who preferred small acts and province.

Piñera, a billionaire businessman of 60, reached the end of the campaign with a major boost from a survey of the private Center for Studies of Contemporary Reality (CERC), which gave a electoral forecast for this Sunday of 44% versus a 31% of Frei and 17% of Enriquez.
The time of the socialist coalition (in power) is over, and no mea culpa, all Chileans are well aware that long ago the Concertación (name of the coalition i n power) was exhausted,” Piñera said in a crowded rally in the same place in downtown Santiago where President Michelle Bachelet closed her campaign four years ago.

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HONDURAN PRESIDENT ELECT MR. LOBO WARNS HUGO CHAVEZ.

December 3rd, Tegucigalpa.- The winner of the presidential elections in Honduras, the nationalist Porfirio Lobo said he would not allow the Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez to intervene in his country and expects Brazil to “see reason” and recognize the election, in an interview with a Chilean newspaper . “He (Hugo Chávez) must not get involved in Honduras matters, because we are not going to allow it. We are jealous of our sovereignty,” President elect Lobo said in an interview with the newspaper La Tercera de Santiago.

“Just as we do not interfere with other countries, we do not want others to interfere in what happens in Honduras,” said the President elect, who on Sunday won a landslide victory in an election that are not yet recognized by some countries in the Americas (mainly the members of the castro-chavist ALBA). Other countries like Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia and the USA are recognizing the results of the honduran elections.

The elections were organized according to the Constitution, this was an electoral process that began in 2008 way before the military coup took place so it had nothing to do with the coup détat , the election itself was a disastrous defeat for the Liberal Party which was the party of the coup, and the vast majority of hondurans did participate in the elections.

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CASTRO-FASCIST CUBAN MOB ATTACKS DISSIDENT IN HAVANA

HAVANA , November 20th — Reinaldo Escobar , the husband of an acclaimed dissident Cuban blogger was punched and shouted down by a pro-castrist mob Friday after he challenged the state agents who earlier roughed up his wife to a street corner debate. As he promised earlier on his blog, Reinaldo Escobar went to the intersection of Havana’s 23rd and G avenues for the proposed discussion. On Thursday, Escobar’s wife posted President Barack Obama’s responses to her written questions on Cuba-U.S. relations on her “Generacion Y” blog. Escobar was waiting with at least two companions when he got surrounded by a prearranged group of government “supporters” (mainly security agents). The mob moved in, screaming obscenities, while they hit him and slapped him in the head and pulled his hair and shirt, but never knocked him down. Soon, Escobar and the others were surrounded by men thought to be state security agents who protected them as they walked about two blocks. All around, the castrist mob pushed the dissidents while screamed “Fidel! Fidel! Fidel!” and “Get out worm!” slang for Cuban-American exiles. After about 10 minutes, Escobar and the others were placed in unmarked cars and driven away.
Ahead of Escobar’s arrival Friday, Cuba’s Young Communists Union organized a street book fair on the same corner, blocking off traffic. It was unclear if the security agents who came Friday where the same ones who assaulted his wife, Yoani Sanchez, two weeks earlier. After the incident, Escobar challenged the alleged assailants to a verbal duel.

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Venezuelan bombing of two bridges at the border with Colombia.-

Bogotá, November 20th.- Uribe described as “very serious incident” the Venezuelan bombing of two bridges at the border between Colombia and Venezuela. According complaints of residents and authorities, Venezuelan soldiers demolished with explosive charges two suspension bridges over the river pedestrian Táchira
The allegations that Venezuelan soldiers destroyed at least two bridges on the border with Colombia yesterday joined a series of episodes that have contributed to the deterioration in recent weeks relations between Bogota and Caracas.
According to complaints of residents and officials of the Colombian department of Norte de Santander, Venezuelan soldiers with explosives blew up two suspension bridges over the river pedestrian Tachira border between both countries.
Venezuelan Vice President Ramón Carrizales, confirmed the bombing of bridges, but called illegals and “improvised bridges” that serve “to drug traffickers.”
For his part, the Colombian government considered the move as a “violation of international law” and “aggression against civilians”, and therefore announced that he will report to Venezuela to the Security Council of the UN and the Organization of American States (OAS).
Colombian Defense Minister, Gabriel Silva, told Caracol Radio that the government will not allow attacks against civilians or against its territory. In the context of the crisis between Bogota and Caracas, border incidents have occurred in recent weeks with a balance of more than a dozen dead.

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NEW CASTRO, SAME DICTATORSHIP IN CUBA.

New Castro, Same Dictatorship in Cuba.

November 18th, Washington, DC- Raúl Castro’s government has locked up scores of people for exercising their fundamental freedoms and allowed scores more political prisoners arrested during Fidel Castro’s rule to languish in detention, Human Rights Watch says in a report released today. Rather than dismantle Cuba’s repressive machinery, Raúl Castro has kept it firmly in place and fully active, the report says.

The 123-page report, “New Castro, Same Cuba,” shows how the Raúl Castro government has relied in particular on the Criminal Code offense of “dangerousness,” which allows authorities to imprison individuals before they have committed any crime, on the suspicion that they are likely to commit an offense in the future. This “dangerousness” provision is overtly political, defining as “dangerous” any behavior that contradicts Cuba’s socialist norms.

“In his three years in power, Raúl Castro has been just as brutal as his brother,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “Cubans who dare to criticize the government live in perpetual fear, knowing they could wind up in prison for merely expressing their views.”

Based on a fact-finding mission to Cuba and more than 60 in-depth interviews, Human Rights Watch documented more than 40 cases in which the government has imprisoned individuals under the “dangerousness” provision for exercising their basic rights.

Ramón Velásquez Toranzo, who set out on a peaceful march across Cuba to call for respect for human rights and freedom for all political prisoners, was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison for “dangerousness” in January 2007.

Raymundo Perdigón Brito, a journalist who wrote articles documenting abuses by the government and published them on foreign websites, was sentenced to four years in prison for “dangerousness” in December 2006. He has endured repeated beatings by guards and solitary confinement during his incarceration.

The Raul Castro government also uses a range of other draconian laws to silence free speech, quash labor rights, and criminalize all forms of dissent. Human rights defenders, journalists, and other civil society members tried under these laws are subjected to systematic due process violations, including abusive interrogations, the denial of legal counsel, and sham trials.

Alexander Santos Hernandez, a political activist who was sentenced to four years for “dangerousness” in 2006, told Human Rights Watch, “[The police] picked me up at 5:50 a.m. while I was at home sleeping, and by 8:30 that morning they were already reading me my sentence.” Santos was denied a lawyer, and the sentence he was given was dated two days before his trial took place.

Political prisoners are subjected to widespread abuses, including forced ideological re-education, extended solitary confinement, and the denial of medical treatment for serious illnesses.

In addition to imprisoning dissenters, Raúl Castro’s government also enforces political conformity using beatings, short-term detention, public acts of repudiation, and the denial of work, among other tactics. Taken together, these everyday forms of repression create a climate of fear that has a profound chilling effect on the exercise of fundamental freedoms in Cuban society.

As a human rights defender, Rodolfo Bartelemí Coba, told Human Rights Watch in March 2009, “We live 24 hours a day ready to be detained.” Ten days after making that statement, Bartelemí was arrested and taken to prison, where he remains.

Efforts by the US government to press for change by imposing a sweeping embargo have proven to be a costly and misguided failure, Human Rights Watch said. The embargo has inflicted severe hardship on the Cuban population as a whole, while doing nothing to improve the human rights situation in Cuba. Rather than isolating Cuba, the policy has isolated the United States, alienating Washington’s potential allies on this issue.

“Despite new leadership in Havana and Washington, Cuba continues to crush dissent, while the US pursues the same failed embargo policy,” said Vivanco. “As always, it is the Cuban people who are paying the price.”

“New Castro, Same Cuba” recommends that the Obama administration secure commitments from the European Union, Canada, and Latin American allies to unite to press Cuba to meet a single, concrete demand: the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners within six months.

Those include the 53 prisoners who have been languishing in prison since a 2003 crackdown by Fidel Castro, as well as all scores of individuals incarcerated for “dangerousness” under Raul Castro.

Once this joint commitment is in place, the US government should end its failed embargo policy, Human Rights Watch said.

If the Raúl Castro government does not meet this demand, members of the multilateral coalition should impose targeted, punitive measures, such as travel bans on government officials or withholding new forms of foreign investment. These measures should be significant enough to bear real consequences for the Cuban government, while being careful not to impose suffering on the Cuban population as a whole, Human Rights Watch said.

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Colombia and Ecuador resume diplomatic relations.

Quito, November 13th.- After 20 months , Colombia and Ecuador on Friday appointed Charge D´Affairs, twenty months after both countries broke their diplomatic ties because of a Colombian military operation against the FARC in Ecuadorian territory, both governments announced.

The foreign ministries simultaneously reported the appointment of Andres Teran and Ricardo Montenegro as their representatives to Ecuador and Colombia. Last 24th of September in New York both countries agreed to a “road map” for normalization of ties after 18 months of fierce controversy.
That agreement provided for the appointment of business managers, for which he had set a deadline of November 15.
“The charge d’affaires is the highest ranking official within a diplomatic mission and who replaces an interim basis to the ambassador or chief of mission in his absence,” the Colombian Ministry in a statement.
“This nomination is a further step towards the normalization of relations (…), according to the will expressed by the presidents of the Republics of Ecuador, Rafael Correa and Colombia, Alvaro Uribe,” he said in turn the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry.
Diplomats from both countries agreed that the designations mean “technically” the resumption of ties as a prelude to the appointment of ambassadors.
Quito broke relations with Colombia on March 3, 2008, two days after the Colombian military bombed a clandestine camp of FARC guerrillas in Ecuador border area, killing the group’s number two Raul Reyes and 24 others .
The raid was rejected by the Organization of American States (OAS), who considered it a violation of Ecuadorian sovereignty and created a climate of regional tension that even led to Ecuador and Venezuela to move troops to their borders with Colombia.
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Presidents Lula (Brazil), Chavez (Venezuela) and Uribe (Colombia).

Brasil pose to creation of a border monitoring committee, with Colombia and Venezuela.

Brasilia, November 12th.- The Brazilian government wants to propose to Colombia and Venezuela the creation of a border monitoring committee as a first step in easing tensions between the two countries, said an official source. The commission would operate similarly to the one of Colombia and Ecuador, which allows the exchange of official information on what happens at the border, said the Brazilian presidential adviser for international affairs, Marco Aurelio Garcia. “If you need help from Brazil to watch the border, we are willing to help,” said Garcia in a press conference with foreign correspondents in Rio de Janeiro. Relations between Colombia and Venezuela have been frozen for months by a decision by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. In recent weeks the situation has deteriorated for several border incidents, to the point that Chavez on last Sunday urged the military and the Venezuelan people to “prepare for war”.

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Insulza: If good faith is met, the agreement resolves the crisis in Honduras

Washington DC, October,30th.-The agreement reached to resolve the crisis in Honduras if they comply in good faith, said Friday the OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza. He announced that the organization already started preparing the observation of the elections on November, 29th.

“If the agreement is fulfilled in good faith, is going to resolve the crisis,” said Insulza at a meeting before the press, in which he declared his “great satisfaction” at the announcement in Tegucigalpa.

The de facto President of Honduras, Roberto Micheletti, on Thursday night accepted an agreement to reinstate the deposed president Manuel Zelaya in power with the consent of Congress.

The OAS immediately organized two missions: one to check the agreement, which will consist of two Hondurans and two personalities from the region “, and another mission for the election, said Insulza.

“I begin to prepare the electoral commission immediately and send people to the field at once,” said the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), with less than a month to the elections in order to choose a successor to Zelaya, deposed by a coup on June 28.

Asked if they met the conditions for holding elections, Insulza said, “I think so, we have no reason to think different.”

“We began a new phase, the negotiation is over,” he said.

Insulza was cautious: “This is a major achievement, but to return to normal we are still on the road and we’ll continue working with the same optimism that so far.”

The agreement reached in Honduras, after four months of pressure from the international community and laborious negotiations, proposed that Congress decides, in consultation with the Supreme Court, to return back to the situation before the coup.

After the coup , the OAS suspended Honduras. Now they must call “a new Extraordinary General Meeting that we hope to conclude soon” to lift the sanctions, said Insulza, in a statement later.

“There was a patient diplomacy and that worked,” he added.

The OAS played an important role in the final stretch of negotiations.

But the final push was given by the United States, who on Wednesday sent a high-level mission led by Deputy Secretary for Latin America, Thomas Shannon.

“The visit of the U.S. delegation helped tremendously to unblock this situation,” Insulza admitted.

“We were not wrong but sometimes it seemed the opposite, saying the departure was by way of dialogue,” Insulza said, dismissing criticism that the OAS was powerless during this crisis.

“It’s a great victory of the region, which succeeded in maintaining its unity and bet on a peaceful settlement,” he added.

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The street gangs of Chavez will be "militias" from now on, trained by the state, with russian weapons and with "license to kill".

Caracas, October 8th, 2009.- The National Assembly (Parliament) of Venezuela approved an amendment to the Armed Forces Act, which legally enshrined as the ‘Bolivarian Armed Forces’, which also introduced the concept of civilians acting in “Corps of combatants” , which would be a sort of “territorial militia”.

The article introduces the notion of the “Corps of combatants,” defined as “units of citizens who work in public and private, that are voluntarily registered, organized and trained by the general command of the Bolivarian Militia” .

According to a copy of the law, published by local media, the role of these popular bodies is to “assist with the Bolivarian National Armed Forces in the overall defense of the nation.”

In fact, the instrument provides that in a “state of exception” or emergency, the militiamen will be summoned to appear in his command to accomplish the tasks available to their superiors.

In addition to these bodies of combatants, the reserve, which was controlled by this command, now turns to be administered by the Army.

“The Constitution does not authorize it, or any government that can standardize the militancy of his party to call militia. That is the substance of the matter,” protested the opposition deputy Ismael Garcia, who with 11 other members of opposition, he saved his vote.

In general, the Act concentrated power in the president, who holds the rank of commander in chief, as highlighted by experts. Truly great part of the russian weapons recently buyed by Chavez will go to the militias.

OBAMA SIGNED ANOTHER YEAR OF EMBARGO TOWARDS CUBA.

The U.S. president, Barack Obama, signed to continue with the long trade embargo against Cuba that are contained in the Act on Trading with the Enemy.

“I hereby determine that the continuation for a year from these measures concerning Cuba agrees to U.S. national interests,” Obama said in a memo dated September 11 sent to to Secretaries of State, Hillary Clinton, and Treasury Timothy Geithner.

The signing of the measure is routine and has been extended so annually.

In this case, however, becomes symbolic because it represents the first renewal under the rule of Obama, who in his first months in power eliminated restrictions on travel and remittances by Americans to relatives on the island.

With this signature, Obama continues with the embargo policy to the island that had maintained their predecessors.

LARGE GAS FIELD DISCOVERED IN VENEZUELA.-

The President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, confirmed the discovery of the largest gas field in the history of his country and one of the largest in the world.

The discovery took place in the Gulf of the South American nation by the Spanish group Repsol and Petroleos de Venezuela SA.

In a famous bookstore in Madrid and during a meeting with a group of journalists, Chavez announced he said, “tremendous news”:

“We are drilling in a block of the Gulf of Venezuela. And the drilling indicates that there are between seven and eight trillion cubic feet of gas … This discovery are going to put us among the five largest gas giants in the world. “

According to Repsol, the site could become operational within two years and produce the equivalent of one thousand 200 million barrels of oil.

US DEPARTMENT OF STATE WORRIES ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS IN COLOMBIA.-

In the US Senate, colombian military aid would be complicated by the case of illegal phone tapping and that of “false positives” (falsos positivos).

After cataloging the scandal of the phone tapping of the DAS (Colombian Security) as “alarming and unacceptable”, the State Department was in favor of an “thorough and independent investigation” to get to the bottom of the case. This is the first time the U.S. government refers directly to the case and called to account for it.

Russians missiles bought by Chavez in Venezuela.

President Chavez and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, during Chavez last visit to Moscow

Caracas, September 12, 2009.-

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, said yesterday that his country will soon start receiving rockets with range of 300 miles as part of weapons purchase agreements recently signed with Russia.
The new agreement is signed at a time when the South American country remains frozen its relations with neighboring Colombia and as a protest to the “increasing U.S. military presence at colombian bases.”

Chavez did not specify details of the acquisition during the speech he gave to supporters from the “balcony of the people” in the Government Palace.

During the visit to Moscow, Chavez offered no details on the negotiation of arms, but the Russian state news agency RIA quoted a military source as saying that Venezuela would buy 100 tanks for about 500 million dollars.

However, the venezuelan president claimed that his country has no warlike intentions.

“We will not attack anyone, only as instruments of defense, because we will defend the country against any threat, wherever it comes,” said Chavez, who was forced to cut his speech by problems in his throat.

Although the United States has paid little attention to Chavez’s ties with Russia, the president’s tour was followed by Colombia, which is concerned about military purchases of his neighbor, who has previously already purchased Russian weapons.

Chavez has said Venezuela wants to strengthen its arms to resist what he calls U.S. imperialist influence in Latin America.

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Former head of Colombia’s secret service connected with murder of Luis Carlos Galan.

Bogota, August 24th.- The former head of Colombia’s secret service has been arrested in connection with the 1989 assassination of a presidential candidate, authorities said.

The Colombian public prosecutor’s office said Gen. Miguel Alfredo Maza Marquez surrendered Tuesday after a police probe concluded he may have had a hand in the Aug. 18, 1989, slaying of Luis Carlos Galan Sarmiento, who was shot while giving a speech, CNN reported.

As chief of the Administrative Security Department, or DAS, Maza was in charge of security for Galan that day. Colombian media reports indicated that investigators have asked Maza why he downgraded Galan’s security in the days before his slaying, CNN said.

The U.S. broadcaster said Galan was a self-proclaimed enemy of Colombia’s cocaine cartels, particularly the Medellin cartel led by Pablo Escobar, who was implicated as ordering the slaying.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe praised Galan last Tuesday, marking the 20th anniversary of his death by saying, “Twenty years ago today, Colombians were moved to the deepest core of our beings with the assassination of … Luis Carlos Galan.”

FIDEL CASTRO MET PRESIDENT OF ECUADOR RAFAEL CORREA, THEY DISCUSSED US-COLOMBIAN MILITARY AGREEMENT.

Secretary Gral of the Communist Party of Cuba Fidel Castro Ruz met President of Ecuador Rafael Correa in a villa in Havana.

Havana. August 22nd.- The Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, met yesterday for several hours with the president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, announced today the official newspaper Juventud Rebelde, which published a photo of both upright and sporting white shirts.

According to the Communist Youth newspaper, Castro and Correa had “a deep exchange of views on the revolutions of the two countries in the pursuit of greater equity and social justice.”

The publication further argued that “a broad and sincere dialogue, spoke of the progress achieved by the ecuatorian Revolution leaded by Correa, particularly in economic matters, education and health.”

The newspaper also noted that the Ecuadorian president is in Cuba ” for a medical checkup and to rest.”

Correa was in his position as president for the first time in Cuba last January, but on this occasion was not received by Castro.

In the image of the meeting held yesterday, Castro, 83, is standing and wearing a short sleeved white shirt, instead of the sports team with which he was portrayed on several occasions three years ago.

The image was taken in what appears to be a hall of residence in Havana, maybe the neighborhood of Vedado in Havana, rather than the stripped hospital room in which Castro was photographed in the past.

HONDURAN SUPREME COURT REJECTS ZELAYA.-

TEGUCIGALPA .- The Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) of Honduras, in line with other branches of government, were against the return of Manuel Zelaya became president, ruling on the proposal of the Act the President of San José de Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, a mediator of the conflict.

PERU , NOT COLOMBIA, IS THE BIGGEST EXPORTER OF COCAINE

Lima, 22nd August.- Peru went to Colombia as world’s biggest exporter of cocaine, according to an expert study released today by Peruvian daily Limean “Peru 21. According to figures obtained by Jaime Antezana and Jaime García Díaz, in 2008.

Colombia produced 430 metric tons of cocaine and Peru 302. However, the authorities managed to seize the first 198 tons and only 20 the peruvians, which entered the market at the end 232 and 282 tonnes respectively.

The comparative study of the evolution of coca and cocaine in Colombia and Peru, “by Diaz Garcia Antezana also suggests that the Peru will soon exceed Colombia as first world producer of coca, base cocaine.

UNASUR agrees to meet President Uribe to discuss U.S.military presence in Colombia.

Initial Flag of UNASUR

Quito, August 10th.- The Summit of the Union of South-American Nations UNASUR convened to celebrate an extraordinary presidential meeting to review the agreement that would allow the United States to use military bases in Colombia. The outcome of the Summit was considered moderate despite the harsh criticism of Venezuela and other countries in this convention.

First official photo of the presidents of UNASUR Brasilia-Mai-23rd-2008.

The new meeting will take place possibly in Argentina this month and they will ivite the Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to participate. Uribe refused to attend the summit of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in Quito, mainly due to its broken diplomatic relations with Ecuador. .

“We could do a reunion to evaluate these behaviors (…) I think this will be resolved with much conversation, debate, telling the truth, people will have to hear things they do not like to hear,” said Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The proposal to meet again to discuss the military agreement that Washington and Bogota negotiated at the time was hailed by the presidents of Ecuador, Argentina and Paraguay.

“It is essential to invite the president Alvaro Uribe to a place where you do not have the feeling that there is hostility,” said on his part the president of Argentina Cristina Kirchner.

Peruvian President A. Garcia reaches the flag of Unasur to chilean president Bachelet, May 23rd 2008

Initially agreed to discuss the issue at a meeting of foreign ministers and ministers of defense, but to the fears expressed by President Hugo Chávez on the scope of the Colombian-American convention, the UNASUR resolved to raise the profile of the discussion.

“Ihave a moral duty to warn: winds of war begin to blow,” said Chavez at the summit. “This may create a war, even in South America,” he said.

Chavez reiterated his concern about how this agreement would allow United States to use military bases in seven Colombian military bases in order to fight drug trafficking and terrorism, which the Venezuelan leader sees as a threat to his country and caused the decission of Chavez to freeze relations with Bogotá .

The Colombian government defends the agreement as an “internal matter” and denied that its military cooperation with United States represents a threat to other countries in the region.

PRESIDENT OBAMA HOPES PUERTO RICO WILL REMAIN CLOSE TO THE UNITED STATES.-

The Flag of Puerto Rico

Washington DC, August 9th.- In a meeting last friday with hispanic journalists at the White House , President Obama was asked about his opinions on the self-determination for Puerto Rico.

Around the status of Puerto Rico, President Obama said that he always have been clear that it is up to the people of Puerto Rico to decide their status.

Obama have not studied the details of the project on Puerto Rico which was introduced in the House of Representatives , but he defined the issue as complicated and contentious, and stated that he wants to be sure he will hear the opinions from all sides.

However, said Obama, “in the end there must be a mechanism that involves the direct participation of Puerto Rico in deciding what should be his status”.

Obama is confident that the people of Puerto Rico is going to want to maintain a close relationship with the United States, but he recognizes that the passions are high on this issue, on both sides. Obama was clear to say that the key is to let people decide how they want to approach to the relationship between USA and Puerto Rico.

H.R. 2499, a.k.a. the Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009, proposes a vote in U.S. Congress to authorize a referendum on the island’s status. If Congress passes H.R. 2499, the government of Puerto Rico will be authorized to conduct a plebiscite giving voters two options:

1) Puerto Rico should maintain its present form of political status, as an associated commonwealth

2) Puerto Rico should have a different status.

Voters would choose between keeping the island’s commonwealth status, adopted in 1952, or to opt for something different.

In the latter case, a second plebiscite would let them decide whether they wanted statehood, independence or independence with a loose association to the United States. Although technically a non-binding plebiscite, the U.S. Congress could then choose to ratify the results by voting to enact the decision made by Puerto Rico.

Two of the island’s main parties oppose the proposal, and a similar bill that was brought to Congress in October 2007 has since then died. While this bid marks the 68th time that the Congress has debated Puerto Rico’s status and during previous referendums in 1967, 1993 and 1998, Puerto Ricans voted to maintain the current island’s status and rejected statehood, there is a sense among some political elite, that this time could be different.

Brazil is not convinced about Colombia allowing USA the use of military bases.

Brazilia, August 7th.- The Colombian President Uribe finished his tour of seven countries. Colombian President Álvaro Uribe had a dialog with Brazils Lula about his decision to allow U.S. the use of military bases in Colombia. His brazilian colleague Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva requests greater transparency on this issue.

Brasilia: President Lula in tense dialog with colombian President Alvaro Uribe

Uribe ended a regional tour in Brasilia oriented to report on the plan, which sparked harsh reactions from neighboring leaders, mainly from Venezuela Hugo Chávez, a harsh critic of Washington.

” The cololmbian agreement with the U.S., as far as it is specific and limited to the Colombian territory, is of course a matter of sovereignty of Colombia,” stated the foreign minister of Brazil, Celso Amorim, after the reunion.

The meeting, originally scheduled for 30 minutes according to the agenda of Lula, lasted about two hours and Uribe withdrew from the meeting merely expressing a greeting to the press.

Amorim also said that in the interview Lula mentioned the issue of guarantees and transparency in the process provided by Uribe. “I think this will be a reflection,” said the minister, who said the colombian President received from Brazil “a suggestion of greater transparency and we need to see exactly if it meets our questions or not.”

Last week, Lula da Silva had expressed his opposition to an agreement that would give greater United States military presence in Colombia, but also indicated that it would refrain from giving opinions on sovereign decisions of his colombian colleague.

During his trip, which took Uribe to seven countries, the colombian president won support from Peru, but countries like Chile and Paraguay were more ambigious . However, Bolivia and Uruguay expressed opposition to the installation of U.S. bases in Colombia.

Before talks with Lula da Silva, the Colombian head of state was in Montevideo, where he met with the Uruguayan President, the socialist Tabaré Vázquez.

In a communique issued after the meeting by the chancellory, the Uruguayan Foreign Ministry make a reference to the traditional and historic position of Uruguay , rejecting foreign military bases in “any territory in Latin America” and its “full respect” to the principle of non intervention in the affairs of other States.

Meanwhile, Hugo Chávez said yesterday that the tense relations with Colombia could become “calm” if Bogotá abandon the idea of “having more US military in bases of Colombia.” The President of Venezuela made such statements after his meeting in Caracas with the former Colombian president Ernesto Samper.

Chavez, who claims to lead a socialist revolution in Venezuela complains that the White House is seeking to invade his country.

Ecuador can withdraw licenses to some media

August, 3rd, 2009.- After the sanctions that the Venezuelan government ran close to 34 radio stations, President Rafael Correa will evaluate the possibility of withdrawing the license of those he means they obtained their license in an irregular manner

The Ecuadorian government will withdraw the license “to some” radio and TV stations that received their licenses in an irregular manner, today announced President Rafael Correa, and predicted that the measure will fall some sacred cows. “

He added that in eight days his government will produce a technical report on the audit to the media, which noted “serious irregularities” subject to sanctions.

“The report is very serious, we need to reverse some frequencies drop some sacred cows,” Correa said without giving further details during an interview with Latin American Association for Radio Education (ALER).

The head of state in recent days stepped up its criticism of a press sector that considers as the main enemy of the socialist revolution.

The government received several months ago a report of an Audit Committee composed under his auspices, which found numerous flaws in the granting of licenses to radio and television channels.

“We want to avoid mistakes. We will analyze it in depth, and then yes, go with all strength to punish and correct the abuses that were committed,” the president said.

Possible sanctions coincide with those taken in Venezuela by the government of President Hugo Chávez.

On Saturday, the Venezuelan authorities released 34 of the air radio and TV and warned with a penalty similar to 200, amid a debate in which he accuses the media of “abuse” of freedom of expression .

Venezuela is the first regional importer of arms

Between 2000 and 2008, the Chavez government has allocated a total of 15.6 billion dollars for military expenditures. Russia sold the country, between 2005 and 2008, war equipment, worth 4.4 billion dollars.

FARC handed over USD 400 000 to finance campaign of ecuatorian Correa

August 3rd.- In a report, the spanish daily El Pais said that the Colombian guerrillas have surrendered USD 400.000, in two parts, to finance the presidential campaign of Rafael Correa in 2006, which coincides with the amounts paid in cash in the bank account of Alianza País.

The alleged electoral funding was mentioned in a video released by the Colombian government in recent days where the leader of the FARC speak of the contributions that would have made this group to the government of Correa.

The president Correa, after learning the article by the newspaper Spanish, warned that his government “is the next that they want to destabilize” after the coup against Manuel Zelaya in Honduras, according to intelligence reports that Correa said he had in his possession.

The president rejected the article published by El País and spoke of “a matter of international orchestrating to hurt his government.”

Seeking for a Casus Belli? Ortega warns of Honduran military plan

The president of Nicaragua said that there is a plan by the government of Honduras to attack his country simulating an attack by suspected soldiers at a military post .

“There is a danger that in trying to divert attention from the internal conflict that they themselves created, to implement the plan that we have denounced,” Ortega said during the XXX Anniversary of the Air Force.

The plan, he added, is “to organize a group of people with military training to attack the army of Honduras and this serves as an excuse for then comes on Nicaragua.”

“But do not believe they will make a trip to Nicaragua,” Ortega said and asserted that the army of Nicaragua “is preparing for war because it wants peace.”

The Nicaraguan president said that means modernizing the air force with support from Russia to fight against new enemies that emerged from the organized crime and drug use in United States.

Honduras has said to have “the most powerful air force in Central America whose aircraft could be in Managua on 25 minutes.”

Colombia and U.S. must “explain” the military agreement, asked Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil

Celso Amorim insisted that the new agreement should be better explained as extending the american troop presence in the region and this creates a “new situation”.

Colombia is a sovereign country and has the right to do what they want in their territory, but this is a significant military presence in the neighborhood, “Amorim said in an interview published today that the newspaper Folha de São Paulo.

In response to the agreement for U.S. troops to use bases on Colombian soil, the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, has decided to freeze relations with Colombia and withdraw all its diplomats from Bogota.

Colombian President Álvaro Uribe said that the agreement strengthens the fight against the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and involves an “enhanced phase of the Plan Colombia,” agreed with United States ten years ago.

However, according to Amorim, are needed “further explanation” because “in the region is important to have transparency and clarity, and maybe that has been lacking.”

The chancellor said, for example, Colombia’s neighboring countries could “have formal guarantees about how these databases will be used.”

Amorim said that ” he understands the concerns” of Chavez, as “it is said that the reason (of cooperation between United States and Colombia) is the drug trade, but at the same time there are reports in the U.S. Congress that Venezuela is willing to drug trafficking. ”  

Argentina lost 11,195 million dollars in the last six months.

 
Buenos Aires – 02/08/2009 .- Capital flight from Argentina reached 11,195 million dollars in the first half of the year, according to Central Bank data. The figures of the monetary authority also reveal that since the financial crisis in August 2007, around 30,300 million euros in savings went abroad of Argentina or were stored in safes. Experts say that this process due to significant fiscal deficit and lack of access to debt marketes.

Roberto Mendez: “For the first time the Coalition could come third in Chile”

“For the first time in the recent chilean democracy, the Coalition could come third and that is the phenomenon that has everyone very upset, especially the candidacy of Eduardo Frei. This is the new data and creates a new political scenario. This situation is marking the end of an era and definitely this dichotomy Alliance Coalition-ended, “said Mendez. And then added: “I think there is a consensus that the Coalition, as we have known, completed its cycle.”

To substantiate his remarks, the figures revealed the most recent presidential poll Adimark, Sebastián Piñera is leading with 33% preference, but then Frei and Marco Enríquez-Ominami are “technical tie”, with 22% and 21% respectively.

Manuel Zelaya said to be created a “popular army” on the border between Nicaragua and Honduras

The deposed president of Honduras announced that his army will be peaceful, with loyal compatriots to try to return to their country to reverse the coup that took him out of power a month ago.

“Tomorrow (Thursday) we started the training phase, training, coaching and supervision of the People’s Army and peacefully Honduras need to defend their rights,” Zelaya said at a rally with 300 supporters in the Honduran town of Ocotal, 226 miles north of Mana.

China will become the second destination of Ecuadorian crude oil, after the pre-agreement of 96 000 barrels per day for two years.

U SD 1 818 million is the amount that was exported in crude oil between January and May 2009. Until last year, the main buyer was United States with 224 889 barrels per day, followed by Peru, Chile, Panama and China. The latter bought 10 546 barrels per day.

But markets change every year for the prices and purchase offers. So between January and May 2009 were sold 51.7 million barrels of which most were 30.9 million to the U.S. market (82 000 barrels per day) and 10.6 million to Panama.

During this period China has remained in fifth place with a minimum sale of 693 430 barrels (1 899 barrels per day).gua.

Chile and Bolivia closer each day.

If the process ends up with a solution to the legitimate right of Bolivia out to sea,the entire region will have won.
Paradoxes of history and the changing political situation in the region. While the Defense Minister of Chile con”decorates the Commander of the Bolivian Armed Forces, on official visit to Santiago a few days ago, with the highest military presea and states that the military relations between the two countries are “best in history” and that “there is an unprecedented rapprochement in bilateral relations”, the same senior official Chilean unfriendly statements exchanged with the Foreign Minister of Peru.

What is premium in this rapprochement between Chile and Bolivia? Plain and simple interest. Beyond the history and ideology is being imposed on Bolivia’s legitimate interest in obtaining access to the sea that the Chilean Government has pledged to consider in the context of the thirteen points agreed bilaterally outstanding in 2006. And from Chile should normalize its relations with Bolivia, and probably get the gas comes out of the plateau to the Pacific through its territory.

PUERTO RICO, STAR NO 52 OF USA?

NEW YORK. – Can you imagine the U.S. flag with 51 stars? 52? 64? We might need to start planning for a new national symbol if Congress passes legislation that could lead to a change in the political status of Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory.

H.R. 2499, a.k.a. the Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009, proposes a vote in Congress to authorize a referendum on the island’s status. If Congress passes H.R. 2499, the government of Puerto Rico will be authorized to conduct a plebiscite giving voters two options:

1) Puerto Rico should maintain its present form of political status, as an associated commonwealth

2) Puerto Rico should have a different status.

Voters would choose between keeping the island’s commonwealth status, adopted in 1952, or to opt for something different.

In the latter case, a second plebiscite would let them decide whether they wanted statehood, independence or independence with a loose association to the United States. Although technically a non-binding plebiscite, the U.S. Congress could then choose to ratify the results by voting to enact the decision made by Puerto Rico.

Two of the island’s main parties oppose the proposal, and a similar bill that was brought to Congress in October 2007 has since then died. While this bid marks the 68th time that the Congress has debated Puerto Rico’s status and during previous referendums in 1967, 1993 and 1998, Puerto Ricans voted to maintain the current island’s status and rejected statehood, there is a sense among some political elite, that this year could be different.

Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rico’s resident commissioner in Washington and a leader in the pro-statehood movement is spearheading the effort in Congress in the belief that a new political status is needed for Puerto Rico to regain momentum in the wake of a recession that has entered its fifth year.

His party, the New Progressive Party (NPP), expects that free of the status quo, Puerto Ricans will vote for statehood as the best possible option and opportunity for prosperity. If successful in the plebiscite and if Congress were to subsequently agree and vote to admit Puerto Rico into the United States as a fully pledged state, Puerto Rico would earn two Senate seats and at least six seats in the House of Representatives.

OAS will meet Friday to discuss the crisis in Honduras

Washington DC , USA,July 29th – The Organization of American States (OAS) will hold two meetings on Friday to discuss the political crisis in Honduras, where the de facto government bears a heavy international pressure to accept a negotiated solution, announced a statement on Wednesday.

Representatives of 33 countries active in the OAS will meet first in private on Friday morning and later in the afternoon in a meeting open to the press at its headquarters in Washington, said the text.

OAS suspended July 5 to Honduras, a week after a coup d’etat that overthrew President Manuel Zelaya, who was expelled from the country by the military.

The continental organization maintains its support to the president of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, who mediated a dialogue between the government and de facto Zelaya.

An agreement proposed by Arias, which includes the return to power of Zelaya, an amnesty and the advancement of the general elections scheduled for November, has not yet received an official response from the government’s de facto Roberto Micheletti.

Zelaya was failed by the negotiation process and is in a border area of Nicaragua in Honduras trying to return home.

The OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza, has warned that the organization can take further action against the de facto government, but expects its first response to the agreement of Arias.

XI Summit of the Tuxtla Mechanism pushed for a solution in Honduras.

Costa Rica, July 29 – The XI Summit of the Tuxtla Mechanism was inaugurated today at 10:30 am with a call by President Óscar Arias, for all his colleagues who attended the event join their voices to push for a permanent solution to the conflict in Honduras.

“Today I ask you, with all my strength, that we try again to set a clear course for our democracies. Not abandon the task of strengthening the institutions and the rule of law throughout the continent. Because we can still come out for the correct side of that revolving door. We can still enter the main hall of the banquet of the world. Be bold and courageous … “Arias said in his inaugural address.

At 11:05 a.m. completed the roster of presidents guests, upon arrival at the hotel JW Marriott Chief of State of Guatemala, Alvaro Colon. Within the Pacuare lounge, the main auditorium of the hotel located inside the Hacienda Pinilla in Santa Cruz de Guanacaste.

Together with Arias and Colon are meeting at this time the presidents of Mexico, Felipe Calderón, of Colombia, Álvaro Uribe and El Salvador, Mauricio Funes. Also attending were the presidents Ricardo Martinelli, of Panama; Gaspar Vega, prime minister of Belize and the Dominican Republic Vice President. Who joined last minute it was Aristides Mejia, on behalf of Zelaya.

Chavez objects Colombia s decission to let in more US troops

CARACAS, Venezuela , July 21st.— Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is objecting to Colombia’s decision to let the United States increase its military presence in the neighboring country.

Chavez said Tuesday that Colombia’s plan to accommodate more U.S. troops at its air and naval bases is “a threat against us.”

“They are surrounding Venezuela with military bases,” he said in a televised speech.

Chavez said late Monday that Colombia’s plan “obliges us to review our relations” with the U.S.-allied neighbor.

A fifth round of U.S.-Colombia negotiations on an accord are set for next week.

Chavez has often accused the United States of plotting to overthrow or undermine him. His relations with Washington remain strained even though he and President Barack Obama’s administration recently restored their ambassadors, seeking more dialogue. Chavez expelled the U.S. envoy last year.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said on Monday that his government is aiming to reach an agreement for what defense officials say would be the use of three airfields and two navy bases.

“The accord is to strengthen Colombian military bases, not to open U.S. bases,” Uribe said in a speech to congress, saying the agreement is necessary to reinforce security within Colombia.

Chavez called such talk evasive. “Of course they use euphemisms and say they aren’t Yankee bases, but rather Colombian bases and that they could come. They’re going to be there permanently,” he said Monday, according to the state-run Bolivarian News Agency.

Most details of the anticipated U.S.-Colombian agreement have not been divulged.

More than $4 billion in U.S. aid since 2000 has helped Colombia fight leftist rebels, who rely in part on drug proceeds.

Colombian officials say a bases agreement will not increase the number of U.S. service personnel and civilian military contractors beyond the 1,400 mandated by the U.S. Congress.

There was no immediate reaction to Chavez’s announcement from the Colombian government.

The leftist leader has had diplomatic disputes with Uribe’s government in the past, but the two have repeatedly smoothed over their conflicts.

Video shows FARC aid to ecuatorian president Correa.

Bogota,July 19th.- FARC supported the electoral campaign of Ecuadorian president, according to a video seized in Colombia in which appears the guerrilla leader Jorge Briceno, alias Mono Jojoy

FARC guerrillas have contributed to the electoral campaign of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in 2006, according to the rebel military commander Jorge Briceno, alias Mono Jojoy, in a video seized by police in Bogotá, confirmed on Friday by a source of the judiciary.

In the video, which dates back to May 2008, Briceño appears in front of a group of rebels at the time it says “give dollars to help the campaign of Correa, and subsequent talks with emissaries, including some arrangements, according to documents held by us, which are very compromising our ties with our friends. “

The document was found footage on a computer seized to Adela Perez (aka ‘Adela’), a guerrilla of the urban network of the FARC captured on May 29 in Bogota,according to a source of the police.

Unitl now, no colombian authority confirmed the authenticity of the video.

INSULZA WILL SEEK REELECTION AS SECRETARY GRAL OF THE OAS.-

Santiago de Chile, July 14th .- The Secretary General of the Organization of American States OAS Jose Miguel Insulza, also former interior minister and former foreign minister of Chile, spoke about the versions published in the Chilean press on the alleged refusal of the United States to his re-election to head the OAS.

“What worries me is that after the US contradicted the news, they insist that there are sources, I believe this comes from someone in the U.S. and/or Chile, somebody does not like me,” he said and reiterated that he will seek for a new period in that position and “though I will not get the consensus of all, I hope that a significant number of Member States will support me .”

Thousands of cuban evangelical believers gathered in Cuba.

CUBA : BIG RELIGION MASS

HAVANA – Thousands of Cubans evangelicals gathered yesterday for an unusual service in a sports stadium operated by the State.

“That this conclusion, we commit to continue working for the unity of our church,” said the Rev. Raul Suarez, one of the pastors of several Protestant denominations who spoke during the event.

Songs, shouts of praise to God, Cuban flags and signs with praise Christ gave to the festive atmosphere Pedro Marrero stadium in the capital, normally crowded with football fans.

The cult was organized by the Cuba Council of Churches (CIC), to the tenth anniversary of the Cuban Evangelical Celebration in 1999 at the Plaza of the Revolution and the beginning of a stage of substantial improvement among these religions and the State.

The ICC does not include the Catholics, who had a year earlier, in 1998, his special moment with the visit of Pope John Paul II to the island.

An estimated 3,000 people attended the celebration.

Among the authorities present were several members of the Communist Party leadership as responsible for religious affairs Caridad Diego. In addition, two foreign participants, the secretary general of the United Bible Societies, Miller Milloy, and the Rev. Melvin Rivero of Puerto Rico.

Although the evangelical organizers extended the invitation, was not present, no representative of the Catholic Church, while it was present in court the Cuban state television.

Although this was the central act of remembrance of the Evangelical Celebration and, unlike it, this cult only attracted people in the capital, in the days prior and subsequent conduct is similar in several locations throughout the country.

According to the Rev. Marcial Miguel Hernandez, president of CIC, the evangelicals in Cuba add 600,000 believers.

The CIC is comprised of 47 churches and ecumenical movement (two of them as observers) from the Protestant denominations of the so-called “historical”, as Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists, to the Orthodox Greeks.

Micheletti announces withdrawal of Honduras from the OAS

Tegucigalpa. The de facto government resigned yesterday in Honduras to the Organization of American States (OAS) after rejecting the ultimatum fixed for return of power to deposed president Manuel Zelaya, in a letter to José Miguel Insulza, secretary general of the agency whose General Assembly meets Saturday in Washington —-

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International arrest of colombian minister Juan Manuel Santos claimed Ecuador to Interpol

The action against Santos was issued by a judge following the Colombian military attack on a FARC camp in Ecuador that left 25 dead in March 2008.

However, the request for the arrest of Santos must be qualified by the secretary general of Interpol, based in France.

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Chavez pressed new venezuelan generals to promote socialism.

In the event of promotion of officers, held in the courtyard of the Military Academy, the President of the Republic, Hugo Chávez, gave the military recently promoted from grade specific set of instructions to advance the socialist revolution in the country.

“Every general, every officer recently promoted is a new engine to pursue the socialist revolution in Venezuela,” said the President, who was in civilian clothes (flux) and was accompanied by Vice President Ramón Carrizales.

“The military doctrine can not be other than the Bolivarian doctrine, antiimperialist, liberating, revolutionary,” he said in a speech in which he made references to the figure of the Liberator Simon Bolivar.

Congressmen of the US and Mexico agree to promote immigration reform.

Press Conference of the 48th Summit of Congressmen of Mexico and the United States

SEATTLE, Sunday, June 7th .- Mexico and congressmen in the United States ended its 48 city interparliamentary meeting in which both parties announced the start of talks with the aim to advance immigration reform

The Democratic Representative Ed Pastor reported that next June 17 he and other congressional leaders willmeet with President Barack Obama in the White House to begin the effort to build “a law that will bring security to the border or perhaps a guest worker program that may be able to enter the United States and work and hopefully that will settle the situation of the 12 million people in the country who are undocumented, ” in a process of legalization or regularization.

A congressmen of the mexican PRI Mr. Edmundo Ramirez said that “the initial draft may include labor, temporary worker program, access to justice and unions in the U.S., and a visa program”.

The US Representative Pastor felt that for this year -in November or December- they could hold the presentation of a reform in this regard.

In the press conference, legislators from both countries confirmed the start of the talks.

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Lima, Sunday June 7, 2009 – Peruvian police captured one of the leaders of the mexican Tijuana cartel with 300 kilos of cocaine.

Poster seeking Fernando Sanchez Arellano and other suspected criminals of the Tijuana Cartel

An alleged ringleader of an international drug trafficking network linked to the Mexican Tijuana cartel, was arrested in Lima with 300 kilos of cocaine in his possession.

Saul Parra Mauricio Tejada, 38 years old, Colombian-born and Mexican citizen, is considered by the Peruvian drug police as “one of the most significant drug trafficking cartel leaders that supplies the brothers Arellano Felix.”

The detainee was accompanied by another individual who managed to escape from the police. The two were traveling in a car yesterday in Lima when a black police patrolman said to stop them, but hey did not obey that order, after which they fled. After several minutes of pursuit through the streets of Lima, the police reached the car, but the accomplish of Parra Tejada escaped by taking a taxi driver s a hostage. The taxi driver was in the area. During the operation police found four bags of the drug trip, divided into 300 parcels.

According to investigators, the cocaine was ready to be shipped for Mexico. The detainee, who since last night is interrogated at the headquarters of the narcotics police, arrived to Peru by pretending to be a businessman engaged in the export of textiles. Peru is, after Colombia, the second largest producer of cocaine in the world and in recent years the police have found a growing presence of Mexican cartels in the country.

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Hugo Chávez is about to meet his next goal: Globovisión

A venezuelan governmental criminal complaint against the oppostion channel, fines and millions in raids on the homes of the owners seek to end opposition to the canal system

Cnel. Hugo Chavez

Caracas – June 6th 2009- The government of Venezuela accused the station Globovisión of criminal behaviour. Chavez also ordered a police raid on the house of the Chairman of Globovisión and continued with the imposition of fines worth millions.

The TV station’s editorial line is of open opposition to Cnel. Hugo Chávez. The incumbent minister of the lead agency for telecommunications, Diosdado Cabello, told a news conference that the recent administrative sanctions against Globovision ” have not been sufficient. “

Globovisión managers “take a bottle of poison in the morning and it gives its journalists,” and before this Chavez asked Cabello to determine if Globovision committed crimes “to apply criminal punishment”.

During the morning the house of the president og Globovisión, Guillermo Zuloaga, was raided by venezuelan police staff. The police seized a large quantity of stuffed animals, which were part of the hobby of Zuloaga, and also announced that it will investigate what might have violated the forestry law.

In economic terms, the Venezuelan government has forced the TV netwok to pay two fines for 2.35 million dollars for taxes not paid “for the years 2002-2003 and $ 270,697 for operating unauthorized frequencies.

Globovisión responded by saying that the government is seeking Globovisión to collapse its operations notably through “judicial terrorism, taxesandimpostion of fines, said its director, Alberto Federico Ravell.

“A television channel can be closed administratively for 72 hours, or hanging (financially) so that it can not function,” Ravell said after the visit of officials of the National Customs and Tax Administration (SENIAT).

All these actions happen after that Chavez “has given instructions to the Supreme Court and the Procuracy to act against opponents,” Ravell said.

Cuba is readmitted to the OAS by acclamation

Organization of American States

Wednesday, June 3th .- The OAS on Wednesday ruled that the provision to Cuba in 1962 has no more effect, opening the door to a return of the islandto the OAS, according to a resolution adopted by acclamation at the plenary assembly in Honduras.

“That Resolution VI adopted on January 31, 1962 at the Eighth Meeting of Consultation of Foreign Ministers, which suspended Cuba’s government (…) has no effect on the Organization of American States,” says the resolution read by the Chancellor of Honduras and President of the assembly, Patricia Rhodes.

“The involvement of Cuba in the Organization of American States will be the result of a process initiated at the request of the government of Cuba,” said the second article of the text, which gives the initiative to Cuba to help them achieve their reinstatement.

After Rhodes read the first article of the resolution, delegates applauded as a sign of unanimous approval.

Ministers of the Americas discussed benefits of free trade.-

formerfmln-mauricio funes new president of el Salvador

San Salvador – May 31st .- Nearly a dozen foreign ministers and finance ministers of Latin America discussed this Sunday with the head of U.S. diplomacy, Hillary Clinton, the results of free trade with United States and its benefits to the population .

Clinton on Monday will attend the inauguration of leftist Mauricio Funes as the new president of El Salvador.

“The aim is to promote all those trade practices that we have all those commercial ties with United States, you want to do more inclusive free trade, which all can take advantage of the benefits of trade,” said the Salvadoran Economy Minister, Ricardo Esmahan.

During the forum, called Pathways to Prosperity in the Americas, the ministers were in favor of making much more inclusive trade agreements that nations need to create trade policies that allow small and micro enterprises to best exploit these tools.

“Today we have in our countries micro and small enterprises that can not compete in the market, there is no ability to export, then that leads us to pose the challenge of finding the most suitable tools for these sectors and also benefit trade fair, told the Costa Rican Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno.

In Central America, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica have a free trade agreement with the United States, which constitutes one of its main export markets.

“Central America has had a good evolution in its trade figures with treaties not only with the United States and the interesting thing is to make the benefits of trade reach all, and one of these is support for less competitive sectors,” said the secretary general of the Integration System (SIECA), Yolanda Mayora.

The meeting was also to be attended by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Economy of the government of President-elect Mauricio Funes, Hugo Martinez and Hector Dada, respectively.

Martinez said that since the government of President Funes, who on Monday will be inducted as the new president of El Salvador, support the forum Roads to Prosperity in the Americas in order to find “solutions” not only increase trade but also to tackle social exclusion.

“They will be allied to the new government and in the light of this initiative, and without attempting to refocus its origins, we hope to be considered in the forum on topics such as social exclusion and gender equality for men and women, “said Martinez.

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WASHINGTON , May 31st.

Organization of American States

- United States and Cuba agreed to resume direct negotiations on immigration that were suspended in 2004 and decided to begin discussions on the mail service between the two countries.

Raúl Castro’s government submitted to the U.S. State Department a diplomatic note to access a request by the United States last week to resume negotiations on immigration, interrupted during the tenure of former president George W. Bush.

The nation’s communist government also submitted a note with a request that the U.S. intends to negotiate on direct mail services, which have been suspended for decades.

“The two notes are a very positive step forward,” said one U.S. official who asked not be identified.

Cuba also expressed its willingness to cooperate with United States in combating terrorism and drug trafficking, as well as preparations for hurricane disaster, he added.

The confirmation came minutes before the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton left on a trip to El Salvador and Honduras.

The top U.S. diplomatic officials on Tuesday plan to attend a meeting in Honduras, where they are expected to analyze the possible readmission of Cuba to the Organization of American States.

Several authorities have said that Washington is ready to withdraw a resolution that suspended Cuba from the Organization of American States OAS , but insist that the reinstatement of the island should be conditional on democratic reforms in the island under a statute adopted by the OAS in 2001 (Democratic Charter) .

The U.S. president, Barack Obama has taken steps toward a more open relationship with Cuba, two months ago easing restrictions on travel and remittances to the island from Cuban-Americans

Honduras presented to the OAS Permanent Council a draft resolution aimed at the General Assembly to be held in June in San Pedro Sula, in order to lift the suspension imposed on Cuba in 1962.

That year, in the Cold War and in the middle of the missile crisis, an American foreign ministers meeting in Punta del Este (Uruguay) suspended the participation of the island in the hemispheric body due to its links with countries of Chinese-Soviet bloc, considered “incompatible” with the Inter-American System.

However, Cuba was never expelled from the hemispheric body and remains a member of it, but after that decision, did not return to participate in the Inter-American System.

On the agenda of the regular meeting of the Council of the OAS today , Honduras will submit a first draft of a resolution expected to be debated at the XXIX General Assembly of the OAS, which will take place between 1 and 3 June in this Central American country.

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Washington DC, May,21.- New Hemispheric Assistant Secretary. The Obama White House informed that it is nominating Arturo Valenzuela to be the next assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs. Valenzuela will succeed Thomas Shannon (appointed in 2005 by former President G.Bush). The Senate must approve Valenzuela’s nomination.

Valenzuela, a professor at Georgetown University, was the director of Western Hemisphere Affairs in the National Security Council in Bill Clinton’s White House.

Valenzuela is the third Obama appointee with responsibility for U.S. policy toward Latin America and the Caribbean. The others are Dan Restrepo, a former legislative staffer and lawyer who is the director of Western Hemisphere Affairs in the National Security Council; and Frank Mora, a professor at the National War College who is now deputy assistant secretary of defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs.

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Managua,May 21st.- Central American support to President Colom.

The Heads of State and Government of the Central American Integration System (SICA) today declared its full support to the president of Guatemala, Álvaro Colom, who is facing a political scandal involving allegations of the murder of a Guatemalan attorney.

Alvaro Colom, president of Guatemala.

In a “special statement” on Guatemala, issued at the end of the SICA Summit, held today in Managua, the Central American presidents agreed to support the constitutional government of Guatemala “in its duty to preserve democratic institutions and the rule of law” in their country.

The leaders also condemned “strongly” crimes and acts of violence against Guatemalan citizens who aim to undermine the constitutional and democratic order in that country.

On May 11, in a posthumous video released by the media , the Guatemalan lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg accused President Colom, the president’s wife, Sandra Torres, and officials of his administration to have consented to his assassination a day earlier in an elegant area in the south of the capital of Guatemala.

The video was recorded four days earlier by the same Rosenberg, who said he had been threatened with death.

The five points statement of Managua, read by the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, at the end of the meeting, welcomed the commitment of Guatemala to investigate and clarify the facts, defend the law and combat impunity .

In addition, it commended the Government of Guatemala request to the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), who leads the Spanish jurist Carlos Castresana, to conduct an investigation on the case.

They also reaffirmed that under the principle of regional solidarity established in the Tegucigalpa Protocol and the Treaty on Democratic Security in Central America , threats to the democratic process in any of SICA member countries constitute a threat to the region. “

That statement was signed by the presidents Ortega, Elias Antonio Saca of El Salvador, Manuel Zelaya of Honduras, and Martín Torrijos of Panama.

Also signed by Foreign Minister of Costa Rica, Bruno Stagno, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Dominican Republic, Clara Quiñones, and the ambassador of Belize in Nicaragua, Alfredo Martinez, who attended the event representing the presidents of their countries, absent because of agenda.

Colom thanked his fellow Central American dignataries ofr their solidarity and declared his hope that the case be resolved and that “justice, the rule of law and democracy will be preserved” in Guatemala, despite the “destabilizing actions” that plagues the country, as described the accusations against him.

They also reaffirm their commitment to maintain the institutions of the country “no matter what and no matter what happens.”

The Congress of Guatemala this week received more than 35,000 signatures demanding the jugdment of Guatemalan Colom for the murder of Rosenberg.

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Lima, May 21st.- Ecuador is not part of the maritime dispute with Chile, says Peru. The latest pronouncement from the chancellor Falconí Fando, related to the maritime border dispute between Peru and Chile, caused unrest in diplomacy Lima. In fact, the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry issued a communique saying that maintains a position of independence from the lawsuit.

Yesterday, the Peruvian Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde said that Ecuador is not a party to the dispute that his country supported against Chile for its maritime boundaries in the International Court of The Hague.

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Washingon DC, May 21.- Senators reject closing Gitmo prison without plan. The US Senate rejected the $ 80 million that President Obama had requested as an advance to the announced closure of the prison in Guantanamo Bay..

“The majority of Democratic lawmakers supported the closure of the prison, but wants to see how they will finance it before,” he said, amid the uproar, the head of the bloc Democrat Harry Reid.

One of the arguments to deny the money (by 90 votes to 6) is the mystery about the fate of its 240 inmates once the jail is dismantled. The biggest fear of regulators is that terrorist suspects are still at Guantanamo could be transferred to U.S. territory, an issue that Republicans successfully exploded in recent times and that many Democrats see as a political risk too high.

While it’s a secret that only a handful of prisoners are directly linked to terrorist acts, are great fears that arouse their relocation, which must occur within or out-of-United States if Obama fulfills the promise of closing prison.

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OAS

Washington DC, May 22nd.-

OAS debate lifting suspension of Cuba.