http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/chavez/ en-us Sun, 6 Jul 2008 14:42:45 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041447/posts Iran-Venezuela-Chavez Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez stressed on Sunday that his people support their Iranian brothers. President Chavez made the remark in a meeting with Iranian Deputy Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance for Press Affairs, Ali-Reza Malekian held on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Conveying his warm greetings for his Iranian counterpart, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Venezuelan president expressed hope that he would visit the Islamic Republic in the near future. For his part, the Iranian envoy said Tehran supports Venezuela's constructive proposals regarding establishment of NAM TV network and efforts for free exchange... IRNA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041447/posts#comment Sun, 6 Jul 2008 14:42:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041373/posts Undercover Officers Got Acting Lessons; 'Crocodile Dundee' BOGOTÁ, Colombia -- New details have emerged about an important supporting role for the U.S. in Colombia's daring rescue of 15 hostages held by the country's Marxist guerrillas. One area where the Americans were directly involved: Giving Hollywood-style acting classes to the Colombian undercover military officers who duped the guerrillas into handing over the hostages. Preparation for the rescue mission, which freed three Americans and former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, involved mounting a makeshift studio on an army base and drilling the undercover military officers in their acting roles, according to senior... Wall Street Journal (no subscription) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041373/posts#comment Sun, 6 Jul 2008 09:45:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041030/posts The sensational rescue of 15 hostages from the grip of Latin America's largest rebel group has highlighted the diminished state of an organization that just six years ago threatened to overrun the Colombian government. Once fueled by Marxist ideology and awash in narcotics profits, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, now finds itself facing a more robust Colombian military led by a popular president. The group has suffered the deaths of top leaders, seen large-scale defections of supporters, and is being squeezed for the money it needs to sustain its operations. Now the FARC has lost its trophy... Los Angeles Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041030/posts#comment Sat, 5 Jul 2008 11:11:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039869/posts <p>BOGOTA (Reuters) - French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, three Americans and 11 other hostages were rescued from leftist guerrillas by Colombian troops on Wednesday after years in captivity, the government said.</p> Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039869/posts#comment Wed, 2 Jul 2008 19:34:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039508/posts Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Tuesday stated that the reactivation of the US Navy Fourth Fleet to patrol Latin American seas is a threat. The ruler claimed he was certain the move was a threat, and underscored that one of the reasons behind this action was Venezuela's huge oil reserve. "I do not have any doubt about it. It is a threat. There is no need to make any questions. I am sure you feel it that way too," he told reporters. Chávez urged the member countries of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) to ask the US administration for... ElUniversal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039508/posts#comment Wed, 2 Jul 2008 01:18:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2038258/posts Hugo Chavez faces political crisis as allies desert him By David Blair in Caracas Last Updated: 9:24PM BST 29/06/2008 President Hugo Chavez, the "socialist revolutionary" leading a global campaign against America's "empire", is facing a political crisis in Venezuela where crucial elections are approaching and old allies have turned against him. Mr Chavez has given Caracas's slum-dwellers free health care for the first time Mr Chavez, a devoted admirer of Fidel Castro, has forged an anti-American front with leaders ranging from President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. At home, however, Mr Chavez is in trouble.... The Telegraph (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2038258/posts#comment Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:56:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037277/posts President Hugo Chavez's Venezuela has become the key trafficking route for most of the cocaine sold on Britain's streets, anti-drugs officials believe. Last year, about 250 tons of cocaine are thought to have passed through Venezuela - up to a five-fold increase on 2004. Much of this ended up in Britain. Anti-drugs officials estimate that more than 50 per cent of all the cocaine consumed in Britain has been trafficked through Venezuela - under the "revolutionary" regime of Mr Chavez. The figure could be as high as two thirds. Senior commanders in Venezuela's security forces are thought to be profiting... Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037277/posts#comment Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:16:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036551/posts <p>CARACAS - Grimacing from contractions, expectant mother Castuca Marino had more on her mind than birth pangs.</p> <p>She was nervous about whether she and her newborn child would make it out of the hospital alive. Interviewed as she stood in the emergency room of Concepción Palacios Maternity Hospital here last week, Marino had heard news reports of six infant deaths there over the course of a 24-hour period late in March.</p> boston.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036551/posts#comment Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:45:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035053/posts That Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez’ regime is enabling Islamic terrorist organizations to take root in South America is no longer in question. What will the US do? In December 2002 freelance journalist Martin Arostegui published an article in Insight Magazine (“Chavez plans for a terrorist regime”) in which he reported the arrival in Venezuela of Hakim Mamad Ali Diab Fattah, a member of Hizballah. Venezuelan officials received him at the airport. In connection with his presence in the country Arostegui interviewed the former Venezuelan Intelligence Director, General Marcos Ferreira, who said Fattah represented only the tip of the iceberg in... Human Events http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035053/posts#comment Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:56:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034810/posts June 22, 2008: A new battlefield for the war on terror has developed in Venezuela. There, leftist president Hugo Chavez has not only established close diplomatic relations with Iran (and Cuba, North Korea and radical groups throughout the region), but has allowed Iran to set up operations in South America. Regular commercial flights from Iran to Venezuela (via Syria, to accommodate Hizbollah) carry people, cash and whatever else Iran wants to move. No questions asked, no visas required. Several U.S. counter-terrorism operations have gone to work, trying to find out what Iran is up to, and how to block any... Strategy Page http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034810/posts#comment Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:03:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034383/posts Terrorism: A Venezuelan diplomat is found to be supporting Hezbollah, and his placement on a Treasury no-go list is laughed at in Caracas. Obviously, something's going on here. For the second time in three months, Venezuela has been implicated in foreign terrorism. The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control named two well-connected Venezuelans as facilitators of Hezbollah Wednesday. Ghazi Nasr al Din and Fawzi Kan'an, along with two Caracas travel agencies, were put on the list this past week, their assets frozen and businesses prohibited. IBD Editorials http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034383/posts#comment Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:36:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034281/posts High court endorses nationalization of cement makers The constitutional court of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ), heard by its president, justice Luisa Estella Morales, declared the constitutional nature of the statutory decree on the organization of cement makers; therefore, they will become the state property. A press bulletin from the TSJ, quoted by state-run news agency ABN, noted the relevance of this regulation that reserves the Venezuelan state a business in the public interest. The decree was in reply to a communication forwarded last June 2nd by President Hugo Chávez. From now on, companies Cemex Venezuela, S.A.C.A., Holcim Venezuela,... El Universal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034281/posts#comment Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:12:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033856/posts Diplomatic tensions between Colombia and Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez have generated fierce rhetoric, political protests and even troop movements along the frontier between the Andean neighbors. Now a Colombian designer has come up with an idea he hopes will create a humorous way to deal with local anger over the man many in his country consider a threat to national security - a fake Chavez voodoo doll complete with a set of needles. ABC.NET http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033856/posts#comment Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:23:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2033615/posts Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he is “fervently looking forward to working with President Obama to bring social justice to the Western Hemisphere. “Together we will strangle the capitalist oppressors of the working class,” Chavez declared. Chavez said he is heartened by Obama’s pledge to meet with him. “I feel he is a man of progressive views,” Chavez opined. “Luckily, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Castro has laid out a blueprint for those of us who come after him.” As an example, Chavez pointed out that Cuba’s national health care program covers sex-change surgery. “Under capitalism, people are... AZCONSERVATIVE http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2033615/posts#comment Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:12:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033165/posts AMERICANS HAVEN'T PAID much attention to El Salvador since the 1980s, when the country was being torn apart by a civil war and the Reagan administration was trying to balance its support for the anti-Communist military regime with a push for free elections. In those days, the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (known by its Spanish acronym, FMLN) was waging a bloody guerrilla campaign. Today, the FMLN is a legitimate political party with heavy representation in the Salvadoran National Assembly. By this time next year, it may control both the Assembly and the presidency--which should alarm anyone who cares... Weekly Standard http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033165/posts#comment Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:34:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033159/posts The Bush administration took action Wednesday against a Venezuelan official and others accused of providing financial support to the Hizbullah terror group. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. [file] Photo: AP , AP Slideshow: Pictures of the week The Treasury Department's action covers Ghazi Nasr al Din, whom the United States identified as a Venezuelan diplomat. The order also targets Fawzi Kan'an and two Venezuelan-based travel agencies - Biblos and Hilal - that he allegedly owns or controls. Kan'an denied the Treasury Department's accusations. "That's pure lies," he told The Associated Press. "What do I have... Jerusalem Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033159/posts#comment Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:18:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032978/posts Fox news alert that the House Democrats are calling to have all US refineries nationalized!! FOX News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032978/posts#comment Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:59:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032536/posts HAVANA (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had an "animated and warm" meeting with former Cuban leader Fidel Castro during a visit to Havana, state-run media said on Tuesday, but no photos or videos of the left-wing allies were made public. Chavez, upon arrival on Monday for a two-day visit, told reporters he would meet with top Cuban officials including the ailing, 81-year-old Castro and Raul Castro, Fidel's younger brother, who took over as president in February. "Now we have our team, it's the same team," he said, referring to the close ties he has forged between oil-rich Venezuela and... Reuters on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032536/posts#comment Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:00:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031354/posts CARACAS — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's estranged ex-wife will seek the mayorship of her hometown in November regional elections. Opposition party Podemos says it will officially support Marisabel Rodriguez's candidacy for the top municipal post in Barquisimeto in western Lara state. The 43-year-old Rodriguez has been an outspoken critic of the president since their 2004 divorce. She told reporters Saturday that under Chavez, democracy in Venezuela has been replaced with "nepotism, inefficiency and intolerance." Chavez sued her in May in a case involving their 10-year-old daughter. But he withdrew the suit after Rodriguez publicly denounced it. Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031354/posts#comment Sun, 15 Jun 2008 10:09:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031287/posts It turns out that Hugo Chávez is an adaptable man. The Venezuelan president, who has championed — and almost certainly helped arm — Colombia’s FARC rebels, called last week for the rebels to lay down their weapons and unconditionally surrender their hostages. We suspect this change of heart has been driven more by self-interest than conviction. Mr. Chávez is increasingly unpopular at home and increasingly isolated abroad, especially as evidence has mounted of his meddling in Colombia. The change nevertheless is welcome and well timed. The FARC, which long ago chose drug trafficking over liberation, has been under assault from... NY Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031287/posts#comment Sun, 15 Jun 2008 02:47:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029651/posts A Venezuelan journalist is reporting that Hugo Chavez’s government is recruiting young men to train with Hezbollah for the purpose of asymmetrical warfare against the US. Fausta has the translation. Hugo Chavez pretends to cut back on his support of the FARC, when his “dangerous” associations go well beyond the Colombian guerrilla. See the original article and read the whole translation. InfidelsAerCool.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029651/posts#comment Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:18:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029501/posts CARACAS, Venezuela -- President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday denied that he's the father of a man claiming to be his illegitimate son. It was the first time Chavez responded publicly to the claims of 31-year-old Salomon Fernandez, who says his mother became pregnant after an encounter with Chavez in the city of Maracay. The president said he has investigated the matter, including obtaining a birth certificate, but is sure he never knew Fernandez's mother. He accused Fernandez of seeking publicity and said he has nothing to hide. "She says we had relations," Chavez said in a televised speech. "But when... Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029501/posts#comment Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:41:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029047/posts Chavez angered many Venezuelans by openly supporting Colombia's leftist rebels, and then frightened many citizens by decreeing a tough new intelligence law. ...Facing a chorus of outrage with only months to go before crucial state and local elections, he now says the guerrillas should give up their fight, and insists he never wanted to force people to spy on their neighbors. Chavez had decreed that anyone refusing to work as informants for intelligence agencies would face four-year prison terms. Protesters denounced it as an attempt to impose a police state and held up signs depicting toads — Venezuelan vernacular for... Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029047/posts#comment Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:15:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028604/posts Chavez ends support of Farc rebels By Jeremy McDermott in Medellin Last Updated: 10:29PM BST 09/06/2008 Hugo Chavez said he was ending his support for Colombia's Marxist guerillas, robbing them of their most public and powerful ally. Farc rebels on patrol. Such displays of strength may be a thing of the past after their main ally, Hugo Chavez, withdrew his support The Venezuelan president said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia were "history", and called on them to release their hostages and end a decades-long war with the government. "Enough of so much war, it is time to sit down... The Telegraph (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028604/posts#comment Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:55:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028148/posts On the same day Colombia said it had captured a Venezuelan national guard officer carrying 40,000 AK-47 assault rifle cartridges believed to be intended for leftist guerrillas, President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela said Saturday he would withdraw a decree overhauling intelligence policies that he had made earlier that week. The rare reversal by Mr. Chávez came amid intensifying criticism in Venezuela from human rights groups. The capture of the Venezuelan officer in eastern Colombia could reignite tensions between the neighboring countries over Venezuela’s support for the rebel group FARC. Colombia’s attorney general, Mario Iguarán, said Saturday that security forces had... NY Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028148/posts#comment Mon, 9 Jun 2008 02:29:17 GMT