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Iran to open 2 health clinics in Bolivia October 10, 2008 Iran to build 2 health clinics in Bolivia, looks to expand medical aid to Latin America LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) -- Iran's top diplomat in Bolivia says his country will open two low-cost public health clinics in South America's poorest nation. Business attache Hojjatollah Soltani said Friday the Islamic republic plans to use Bolivia as a base for future Red Crescent medical programs across the continent. He did not offer details or cost figures for the clinics. Bolivia and Iran, both outspoken critics of the United States, have only...

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia: THE documentary on Bolivian state television opens with grainy images of leaders of the Ustashe, the fascist movement that ruled Croatia during World War II. The movie, part of a propaganda campaign against one of President Evo Morales's most vocal critics, then shows black-and-white photos of emaciated victims in concentration camps, followed by the question, "Who is Branko Gora Marinkovic Jovicevic?" Tapping a pack of Camel Lights on his desk, Branko Marinkovic, the 41-year-old scion of a cooking oil and cattle ranching empire, is understandably displeased at being associated with Nazis who fled to South America. After...

The federal government has already taken effective control of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and American International Group - and there could be more full or partial corporate takeovers if some Democrats and economists have their way. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s historic Wall Street bailout plan calls for the federal government to purchase at discount the bad debts of financial firms struggling under the weight of bad subprime-mortgage investments. But Democrats are pushing in negotiations with the White House to give the federal government power to effectively nationalize, or partly nationalize, financial firms via the purchase of their stocks, according to...

We are all now very familiar with the aptly-named triple threat posed by Iran, Iraq, and North Korea. But there's another gathering storm closer to home and the media only feigns interest. Cuba's old news. And Venezuela's rants against colonialism and America have reached the level of parody. But recently Bolivia has stepped up and is trying to play with the big boys.

How The West Was Won The rapid and unexpected decline of the Sunni insurgency in Iraq was officially recognized this week, when Maj. Gen. John Kelly, commanding the Marine Expeditionary Force, turned operational control of Anbar Province over to the Iraqi army and police. Anbar, a vast expanse of desert the size of North Carolina, had been the stronghold of the Sunni insurgency. For years, foreign fighters loyal to al-Qaida had sneaked across Iraq's northwestern border with Syria, into Anbar and down a "rat line" of safe houses in Haditha, Ramadi and Hit. From Fallujah, the arch terrorist Zarqawi...

President of Chile Michelle Bachelet is trying to reconcile the positions adopted by the Presidents of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, and Brazil, Lula da Silva, regarding the political crisis in Bolivia, according to official sources quoted on Monday by Chilean newspaper El Mercurio. Based on the report, the proposal that will be discussed by the leaders of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) will be not to intervene in the internal affairs of Bolivia and not to mention the United States.

Bolivia may look towards Russia for funding if the United States decides to withdraw its £14 million in annual aid. Relations between America and the South American state are at an all-time low after Bolivia expelled the US ambassador amid civil unrest which has left more than 30 dead. Whilst long range Russian bombers now streak across the skies of the Caribbean from a base in Venezuela, and Moscow seeks to strengthen relations with its old ally Cuba, Bolivia may be the latest recruit in expanding Russian influence in Washington's "back yard". Last week the US ambassador to La Paz...

via translation - ALERT - Washington calls on American citizens to leave Bolivia WASHINGTON - The USA called Tuesday U.S. nationals to leave Bolivia, inviting them to take a flight between La Paz and Lima that the U.S. State Department proposes to affrêter Wednesday.

In the spirit of Fidel Castro, Mr. Chávez seems to believe that if the foreign devil can be painted as an imminent threat to sovereignty, the nation might rally behind him. This idea, shared by Bolivian President Evo Morales, explains not only Russian military tourism in the Caribbean but also last week's expulsion of the U.S. ambassadors to Caracas and La Paz. Mr. Chávez has troubles at home, and elsewhere in the region resistance to his Bolivarian Revolution is also rising. Last week it boiled over in Bolivia, where Mr. Morales, backed by Mr. Chávez, seeks to consolidate power through...

Marxist President Evo Morales, a Chavez lackey and supporter of the Iranian regime, blamed opposition activists for killing government supporters this weekend. --Opposition leaders said the Marxist fighters were armed and intended to start fighting in the region. Here is AMAZING Footage of fighting at the airport in the city of Cobija this weekend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF9e32_rqcU . . Former Bolivian Congressman and political dissident Jose Brechner sent this report on the crisis earlier today: The socialist government of president Evo Morales centralized all the financial resources of the state and doesn´t want to give back the taxes from oil revenues to...

A PAZ (AFP) — Deadly clashes in Bolivia Thursday stoked fears of further widespread unrest and possibly even civil war, amid a furor over the expulsion of the US ambassador to the country. At least two people were killed and a dozen people wounded in violent clashes between pro- and anti-government protesters in the northeastern town of Cobija, officials said. It was the third day of street violence in parts of the country. Asked about the unrest President Evo Morales, opening a public works project in La Paz, said: "We are going to be patient and cautious. "We are going...

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States faced growing challenges Friday in Latin America after Venezuela received what the US called "Cold War era" bombers from Russia and joined Bolivia in ordering out the US ambassador. At a time of rising US-Russian tensions over Georgia, the United States voiced wariness about Russia's aims in Latin America, even if both sides denied any link with the month-long crisis back in eastern Europe.

The United States stopped trying to be polite Friday in an escalating diplomatic shoving match with the populist leaders of Venezuela and Bolivia. Washington slapped new sanctions on three aides close to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and called him weak and desperate. The Venezuelan ambassador got the boot for good measure, a move that was purely for show. Chavez had already brought his man home.

The Bush administration is facing a new headache, this time in Latin America, as two leftist governments it can't ignore booted the U.S. ambassadors this week. Simmering ideological tensions between President Bush and the populist presidents of Bolivia and Venezuela boiled over this week in twin diplomatic spats that threaten U.S. counternarcotics operations in the region and possibly American energy supplies. The administration says it wants to get along with the growing number of leftist leaders in the Western Hemisphere, but Bolivian President Evo Morales and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are having none of it, essentially responding with the time-honored...

VENEZUELAN President Hugo Chavez expelled the US envoy to Caracas today and threatened to halt crude exports to the US on a day he highlighted the recent arrival of two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers. Mr Chavez today ordered US ambassador Patrick Duddy to leave the country within 72 hours, in a move he described as an act of solidarity with Venezuela's ally Bolivia, which also expelled its US envoy. "Starting at this moment the Yankee ambassador in Caracas has 72 hours to leave Venezuela," Mr Chavez said at a public event in the port city of Puerto Cabello, 120km west...

"Venezuela's Chavez says US ambassador must leave"

The US says it is expelling Bolivia's envoy in Washington, a day after the US ambassador was told to leave Bolivia. The US move comes after Bolivian President Evo Morales blamed the US envoy for inciting protesters in Bolivia - a claim denied by Washington. And Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez now says he will expel the US envoy in Caracas, in solidarity with Mr Morales.In Bolivia, at least eight people were killed in clashes between pro- and anti-government groups on Thursday.

CARACAS (AFP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Thursday ordered the US ambassador to leave the country within 72 hours, in an act of solidarity with Bolivia which also expelled its US envoy. "Starting at this moment the Yankee ambassador in Caracas has 72 hours to leave Venezuela," Chavez said.

LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivia's leftist president, Evo Morales, asked the U.S. ambassador on Wednesday to leave the country, blaming him for intensified opposition protests that shut down a natural gas pipeline to Brazil. A State Department spokesman in Washington said Morales' accusations were "baseless" and said the U.S. Embassy in La Paz had not received any request for Ambassador Philip Goldberg to quit the South American nation. Morales, who is a close ally of Venezuela's fiery leftist leader Hugo Chavez, frequently lashes out at Washington and has previously accused Goldberg of siding with his rightist opponents in a bitter...

LA PAZ (AFP) - Rebel governors in the east of Bolivia are mounting a "civil coup" against the government, President Evo Morales has charged, as a political crisis gripping the country edged closer to confrontation. Two weeks of road blocks and other anti-government protests in the relatively prosperous states of Santa Cruz, Chuquisaca and Tarija have started to stall the local economies there, national and regional media reported Friday. < > The building crisis stems from Morales's efforts to change the constitution to redistribute land and national wealth for the benefit of Bolivia's indigenous majority, which accounts for 60 percent...

Iran and Bolivia will "stick by each other" said hardline Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Tuesday, in comments sure to provoke concern in Washington. Ahmadinejad's statements came at a joint press conference with leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales in Tehran. He said the two government weren't interested in U.S. concerns about their close ties. "We will stick by each other's side and will be supportive of each other. (I) had extensive talks with Mr. Morales on this," he said. "The geographical distance between the two countries is long but our hearts, thoughts and wills are very close." Ahmadinejad also praised Morales...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad flashes the V for 'victory' sign as he waits for the arrival of his Bolivian counterpart Evo Morales in Tehran. Ahmadinejad told Bolivia's visiting Morales on Monday their two nations are natural allies and would boost energy ties, state media reported. (AFP/Atta Kenare) TEHRAN (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Bolivia's visiting left-wing President Evo Morales on Monday their two nations are natural allies and would boost energy ties, state media reported. "The two revolutionary nations and the governments of Iran and Bolivia are natural allies and will boost their relations in the fields of...

The bizarre remarks and actions of the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez continue to concern anyone who is interested in the peace and security of the Caribbean region. Chavez has recently purchased $4 billion worth of military equipment from Russia, including 24 Sukhoi combat aircraft with missiles, Main battle tanks, transport aircraft, air defence systems and Kalashnikov AK automatic assault rifles. This latest purchase follows a 2005-2006 agreement with Russia to buy over 50 combat helicopters, 12 Tor-M1state-of-the-art defence anti-aircraft and anti-ballistic missile systems and 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles. Having purchased all this heavy-duty weaponry, Chavez boasted that his air force could...

Evo Morales, Bolivia’s president, has claimed a reinvigorated mandate for constitutional reform after a partial count of Sunday’s recall referendum showed he had won more than 60 per cent of a national vote of confidence in his government. The president is expected to move swiftly to seek approval for a draft constitution that would redistribute wealth from the hydrocarbons industry, intro­duce land reform and open his way to run for a second term. Addressing supporters from the balcony of the presidential palace on Sunday, Mr Morales said the vote had “deepened democracy”. “We are convinced that it is important to...

Venezuela, Iran to loan Bolivia 225 mln dlrs for cement firm: official LA PAZ (AFP) - Venezuela and Iran are to loan Bolivia 225 million dollars to create a state cement company for the construction of roads and houses, the deputy minister for small and medium business, Eduardo Peinado, said Saturday. The deal was made between Bolivian President Evo Morales, Venezuelan ambassador Julio Montes Prado and an Iranian business official Hojjatollah Soltani, he said. Bolivia, South America's poorest nation, has formed strong ties with Venezuela under Morales. The Bolivian leader has modelled socialist reforms in his country's after those of...

LA PAZ (AFP) - Bolivia and Shell have signed a deal compensating the Anglo-Dutch energy group for its share in the nationalized gas pipeline company Transredes. The accord was signed late Friday by Bolivian Energy Minister Carlos Villegas and Shell representative Jose Maria Linardi in the presence of President Evo Morales, an AFP photographer at the ceremony said. The amount of the deal for Shell's stake in Transredes, which was nationalized by Morales last year, was not divulged by officials. Reports on Saturday, however, put the sum at 120.57 million dollars. < > The deal did not include another stake-holder...

The City of the White MenThere isn't much left of the city of Tiahuanaco in Bolivia, South America. In the 1500's, the Spanish systematically destroyed the buildings. Later, many of the stone blocks were looted for houses in a nearby village. Most recently more stone was taken to lay a railroad right-of-way. Despite this, what is left is still a sight to see. Tiahuanaco is old. It was already in ruins when the Incas took over the area in 1200 A.D.. It is situated on a mountain at an altitude of 12,500 feet and boasts a pyramid 700 feet long,...

Fox news alert that the House Democrats are calling to have all US refineries nationalized!!

CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez says Venezuela will not tolerate a movement for secession in Bolivia's eastern lowland states. Chavez says his government has not meddled in the domestic affairs of other Latin American nations, but would if Bolivian states now seeking greater autonomy from Bolivia's central government push for total independence. He did not say Thursday what specifically Venezuela would do. Bolivia's largest and richest state overwhelmingly backed a May 4 referendum seeking greater autonomy from the leftist government of President Evo Morales. Leaders insist they have no interest in full independence. Chavez, a close Morales ally, accuses...

Bolivia's richest province votes for autonomy By Jeremy McDermott, Latin America Correspondent Last Updated: 4:55PM BST 05/05/2008 South America's poorest nation is threatened with partition after the country's richest province voted for autonomy, threatening the rule of President Evo Morales, the first indigenous Indian president and close ally of Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. Residents of Santa Cruz province celebrate the referendum result In the rich eastern province Santa Cruz, 86 per cent of voters opted for greater autonomy, with another three provinces preparing their own votes next month. Between them the four provinces account for 80 per cent of Bolivia's...

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia - Bolivia's largest state voted amid scattered violence Sunday on a measure seeking greater political and economic autonomy from the government of leftist President Evo Morales, who called the vote unconstitutional. As polls closed Sunday, exit surveys showed the autonomy referendum drawing as much as 85 percent support, though they were conducted by local news media sympathetic to the cause. No margin of error was available. Minor clashes across Santa Cruz state injured at least 25 people during the politically charged vote, which sought to separate the state's freewheeling capitalism and mixed-blood heritage from Morales' vision of...

Bolivia's President Evo Morales delivered a keynote address to the United Nations forum on Indigenous People in which he proclaimed "if we want to save our planet earth, to save life, we have a duty to put an end to the capitalist system and the unbridled prosperity that is killing the planet." In its place, Morales urged people to “live our lives the way nature intended—solitary, nasty, brutish, and short.” The Bolivian president dismissed objections as “excessively human-centric.” “Humans have an over-inflated sense of their own importance,” Morales said. “They don’t realize that their lives and happiness are inconsequential in...

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia — The appearance of a Star of David on new national identity cards has alarmed opponents of President Evo Morales, who recall how the symbol was used to brand Jews in Nazi Germany. Tiny six-pointed stars within a tight circle are printed on the back side of some, but not all, recently issued picture IDs in the Santa Cruz region. The mark was present on three cards seen by The Washington Times. "It raises suspicions that the government is identifying individuals or segments of the population along racial, religious or ideological lines" said Carlos Klinsky, a member...

BANQUETE-Authorities near Banquete searched for illegal immigrants who jumped out a truck following a high speed chase Wednesday evening. Officers rounded up more than two dozen illegals in two separate locations. Some of the immigrants come from as far away as the middle east. Fifteen of them were caught in the Mathis area and nine more were later captured just south of Banquete. San Patricio County Sheriff, Leroy Moody, told KRIS 6 News that he believes there are more out here hiding out in a thick brushy line of trees, and if it were not for strong winds, a DPS...

Afghanistan to Ask NATO for Bigger Army Afghan officials will go to the NATO summit in Romania Thursday with a request: pay to increase our national Army by 40 percent. A bigger Army, Afghan officials argue, will allow the US and other coalition members to scale back in the coming years. This appeal comes amid pleas from the US and Canada for other NATO members to commit more to the Afghanistan mission, which many analysts say has floundered over the past year for lack of resources and a coherent strategy. France is expected to contribute another 1,000 forces and...

There is an emerging mini-me of Hugo Chavez — Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia. And his country is starting to pay the price for it. Bolivia may end up not merely fragmented but wracked by bloodshed if Mr. Morales continues to emulate the senseless and destructive policies of his patron. Mr. Morales has turned frequently to the Chavez playbook on "revolutionary" brinkmanship for policy guidance. From promoting a bespoke constitution, which removed inconvenient term limits, to undermining democratic institutions, to approving populist measures that hurt poor people the most, he has made all the moves favored by his role...

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Hugo Chavez has been accused of using Venezuela's oil riches to meddle in Colombia, Argentina, Bolivia and Nicaragua. Now, Peru's president says the Venezuelan leader may be doing it here by funding militants and anti-poverty centers that preach populist revolution. In recent weeks, Peruvian police have arrested nine people the government alleges are militants bankrolled by Venezuela. And the head of a Congressional investigatory committee accused Venezuela of supplying funds to outreach centers he says agitate against the government. President Alan Garcia supports the ongoing investigation into the centers. Venezuela and allies Bolivia and Ecuador "want...

By Martin Arostegui - SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia — South America was on the brink of war yesterday as Venezuela and Ecuador amassed troops on the Colombian border in response to the killing of a Marxist rebel leader. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened to join the rebels in a war to overthrow hard-line Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, a key ally of the United States, deploying tanks, fighter jets and thousands of troops along the Colombian border. Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa also ordered troops to the border, expelled Colombia's ambassador and recalled its ambassador to Bogota, but left its embassy open. Venezuela...

Buried Alive In Bolivia by: Amanda Busse, January 28, 2008 Lynched, stoned and buried alive; these are just some of the ways that people have been punished in recent years by indigenous, communal judges in the South American country of Bolivia. The newly proposed constitution by the government under President Evo Morales allows indigenous communities to engage in these practices without due process or a check on authority. Communal justice, or justicia comunitaria, as it is called, is an ancient Inca custom which, according to a recent study by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), allows local leaders to bypass the...

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia (AFP) - Huge crowds seeking autonomy for eastern Bolivia rallied Saturday against leftist President Evo Morales, as tens of thousands marched to support him in the capital, La Paz. The governors in the eastern lowland and energy-rich states of Santa Cruz, Tarija, Beni and Pando all declared greater self-rule at celebratory rallies Saturday, a move strongly opposed by Morales, who ordered extra police deployed to the region. The four rebel provinces -- out of the nine that make up Bolivia -- account for around two-thirds of the total gross domestic product and are home to a more...

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia — “Against narco-communism,” reads one line of graffiti in this city in the lowlands of Bolivia. “To arms, Cruceños,” reads another, calling on residents to fight the government of President Evo Morales, who put the armed forces on alert this week as four eastern provinces move toward greater autonomy.

CARACAS, Venezuela — A mysterious Venezuelan air force flight came under attack from vigilantes when it touched down last week at an airfield in northern Bolivia amid fears that the transport plane was delivering weapons. Suspicions were only deepened when officials confirmed that a Venezuelan banking official on board the flight had been carrying a briefcase stuffed with $160,000 in cash. The airfield, at Riberalta, is located near a Bolivian uranium-mining area, adding to long-standing suspicions that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is trying to purchase uranium from his Latin American neighbor for transshipment to Iran.

LA PAZ, Dec 6 (Reuters) - In a violent show of anti-Venezuela sentiment, a crowd of about 200 Bolivians hurled stones at a Venezuelan military plane and prevented it from refueling after it landed on Thursday, local radio reported. After hearing the incoming plane, the mob seized control of the airport in the Amazonian city of Riberalta and attacked the aircraft. Regional leaders had said they suspected it was carrying arms and not humanitarian supplies, according to the radio reports. "We won't put up with these Venezuelans who come to the country and do whatever they want. We won't let...

SUCRE, Bolivia (Reuters) - Demonstrators opposed to efforts by Bolivian President Evo Morales to overhaul the constitution on Sunday torched police stations and stormed a jail, freeing 100 inmates, while on the streets protesters clashed with police and one officer was killed. The protests in the southern city of Sucre came hours after pro-government allies in a constitutional assembly approved a preliminary draft late on Saturday of the new constitution, a key Morales political project.

October 9, 1967 was checkout day in the two-room schoolhouse in the remote village of La Higuera in the eastern lowlands of Bolivia.Sergeant Mario Teran of Company B, 2d (Bolivian) Ranger Battalion entered the schoolhouse to proactively deal with a political problem. The problem was a megalomaniacal Cuban psychopath named Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Moments earlier Sergeant Teran and a companion had summarily executed two of Guevara's Cuban companions. Guevara, hands bound, rose when Teran entered the room. The two reportedly exchanged angry words and Teran fired his M-1 carbine several times into Guevara's chest. Bolivian Rangers, advised by a sixteen...

On This Day In History - October 9, 1967 Professional revolutionary "Che" Guevara is executed in Bolivia Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, better known to the world as "Che" Guevara, is executed by Bolivian armed forces on this day in 1967. Born in Argentina, Guevara was a professional revolutionary who became involved in the Guatemalan revolution of the 1950s. It was during this time that he discovered Marxism and became a fervent convert to the philosophy. Following the overthrow of the Guatemalan government by a U.S.-sponsored coup in 1954, Guevara traveled to Mexico where he joined up with Cuban revolutionary...

Hero. Rebel. Revolutionary. These are words one often hears in association with Ernesto Che Guevara. But they are not words you will often hear in Miami where many people see Che Guevara as a brutal guerrilla who brought Cuba nothing but misery with his communist ideals. One of those anti-Che voices in Miami belongs to Felix Rodriguez, a Cuban-born former CIA agent who was part of the mission of CIA operatives and Bolivian army forces that captured and killed Che Guevara in October 1967. Forty years on, how does he feel about the role he played in ending the life...

LA PAZ, Bolivia - Vilified by world leaders wary of his nuclear ambitions, Iran's president is turning to South American leftists who are embracing him as an energy and trade partner and counterweight to U.S. influence. On the heels of a U.N. General Assembly appearance in which he said Iran will ignore demands by "arrogant powers" to curb its nuclear program, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was headed to Bolivia on Thursday to establish first-time diplomatic relations with the Andean nation.

A 1,300-year-old skeleton buried with a cache of gold artifacts has been found in a Bolivian pyramid, archaeologists say. The remains are believed to belong to an elite member of the ancient Tiwanaku culture, which thrived on the shores of Lake Titicaca from about A.D. 400 to 1200 (see Bolivia map). Scientists found the bones and offerings this spring in the upper reaches of the Akapana pyramid, a heavily looted temple experts say is one of the largest pre-Hispanic structures in South America. The condition of the artifacts and the skeleton's location inside the pyramid lead researchers to believe the...

Anarchy in the Andes as race divides Bolivia By Hamida Ghafour in Santa Cruz Last Updated: 2:14am BST 04/05/2007 On a long, high wall near the main square in Bolivia's business capital graffiti reads 'Evo the dictator' and 'Independence for Santa Cruz'. It is a sign that the excitement for this poverty-stricken Andean country of electing its first indigenous president after years of being governed by a wealthy white elite has already turned sour. As Evo Morales has tightened his links to Venezuela's stridently anti-capitalist leader Hugo Chavez, opposition to his government has grown and the country is increasingly divided...