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Today, there are rumors that the President of PDVSA Ali Rodriguez will be removed from the post and appointed as Minister of Foreign Relations. While this is being denied by the Foreign Minister “por ahora”, the rumors appear to be true. Coincidentally I was going to talk about Rodriguez in the context of an excellent article about him in Descifrado by Mery Mogollon, entitled “Ali is naked” which I was going to comment on, adding my own information. To understand what Mogollon is saying, it is important to place yourself in the proper context. Rodriguez, “Commander Faust” when he was...

On September 11, 2001, William Rodriguez, a maintenance worker at the World Trade Center in Manhattan, single-handedly rescued fifteen people. The only employee with the master key to the North Tower staircases, he led firefighters up the stairs, unlocking doors as he went, aiding in the evacuation of hundreds of additional people who, but for his efforts, might have perished. Although his job description did not include saving lives, Rodriguez re-entered the building three times after the first plane struck, and was the last person to exit the North Tower alive. He survived the collapse of the North Tower by...

The Banana Republican Host: [L. Gonzalez] Guest: [FELIX Ismael RODRIGUEZ] A CIA undercover agent in Cuba before the Bay of Pigs debacle, Cuban-born Felix Rodriguez ran a communications network in Nicaragua, took part in the capture of Che Guevara in Bolivia, led a strike force during the Vietnam war and, more recently, served as Oliver North's liaison to the Salvadorian government. He was roughly handled by a Senate subcommittee investigating ties between the contras and drug smuggling in Central America--its chairman, Senator John Kerry, later apologized to him publicly.

The new secretary general of the Organization of American States resigned yesterday because of accusations that he took a bribe in 2001 while president of Costa Rica. In a letter to the 34-nation organization, Miguel Angel Rodriguez denied he did anything wrong. "With humility, pain and anguish, I ask you and your countries for forgiveness for making you endure this difficult period," Rodriguez said in his letter, which was read to OAS members here yesterday by Costa Rica's ambassador to the OAS, Luis Guardia. Rodriguez wrote that he was leaving because he did not want to expose the OAS to...

WASHINGTON - (KRT) - In a major embarrassment for the premier political institution of the Americas, the secretary-general of the Organization of American States, Miguel Angel Rodriguez, resigned Friday, pressed by a corruption scandal in his native Costa Rica and just weeks after assuming his post. In his resignation letter, Rodriguez said he didn't want to submit his family to the costs of a "long-distance defense" and wished to spare the OAS "a cruel and lengthy persecution of its Secretary General, not only in the judicial sphere but also in the media." "With humility, pain and anguish, I ask...

The Republican Party kicked off its national convention yesterday not with an angry attack on Democrats or their standard-bearer, John Kerry, but by advancing a calm, convincing case.... [T]he broadcast networks chose not to show last night's principal events.... ...McCain stayed clear above the partisan fray, laying out in grave terms the enormous stakes at hand. Giuliani, by contrast, was entirely partisan — but in the best sense of that word. America's Mayor outlined solid distinctions between Bush and Kerry, distinctions based on their records, and explained why Bush is the clear choice to lead America in the War on...

Ciro gives up the fight to keep seat BY T.A. BADGER Associated Press Writer SAN ANTONIO - After several ballot recounts and legal appeals, U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez has conceded defeat in his fight alleging vote fraud in March's District 28 Democratic primary. Laredo lawyer Henry Cuellar ends up beating Rodriguez by 58 votes out of nearly 50,000 cast in a contest marked by barrages of bitter accusations flying in both directions. Rodriguez threw in the towel late Wednesday after the Texas Supreme Court again rejected his request that it hear his appeal from a lower court. Just as it...

PAUL RODRIGUEZ CHALLENGES REP. NYDIA VELAZQUEZ FOR A SPOT IN THE GOP-LED CONGRESS Republican Paul Rodriguez says if New Yorkers want to be heard in a GOP-led Congress, they need to elect Republicans. That’s one reason the president of the New York City Young Republican Club is running against the incumbent Democrat, Rep. Nydia Velazquez, in Brooklyn’s 12th district this fall. “As long as Democrats are the only ones representing New York City, New Yorkers are not going to have a voice in Congress,” Mr. Rodriguez said. “New Yorkers need someone in the majority to get a better chance to...

Cuellar asks appeals court for new hearing Associated Press SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Congressional candidate Henry Cuellar on Monday asked a state appeals court for another hearing so he can try to reverse a ruling in the voter fraud lawsuit brought by U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez. Last week, a three-judge panel of the San Antonio-based 4th Court of Appeals overturned a lower-court judge who had ruled that Rodriguez could not challenge the eligibility of hundreds of District 28 voters in the March 9 Democratic primary because the issue was not raised before a legal deadline. Rodriguez led Cuellar by 145...

Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus speculate that Laredo lawyer Henry Cuellar may switch parties if his recount victory survives legal challenges.

Election count facing scrutiny by state party Cuellar takes 203-vote lead BY TRICIA CORTEZ Times staff writer Roberto Balli, Webb County Democratic Party chairperson, filed an affidavit Thursday asking for a recount of the recount in Webb County, because of electoral irregularities and possible fraud in the congressional race between Ciro Rodriguez and Henry Cuellar. Balli sent the notarized affidavit to Charles Soechting, chairperson of the Texas Democratic Party in Austin. Soechting is expected to make a decision Friday morning. Meanwhile, Cuellar claimed victory Thursday over Rodriguez by 203 votes, after all 11 counties completed their recount of ballots cast...

Cuellar takes lead District 28 recount gets complicated BY TRICIA CORTEZ Times staff writer Only in South Texas: the curse of Duval County's infamous Ballot Box 13 episode, which elected Lyndon B. Johnson to the U.S. Senate in 1948, has come to roost in Webb and Zapata counties. That's how political observers are viewing the startling development in the recount of Democratic primary ballots cast in Webb County and Zapata County in the hotly contested congressional race between Ciro Rodriguez of San Antonio and challenger Henry Cuellar of Laredo. During a recount of ballots Tuesday morning, Zapata County election officials...

<p>Boston owner: Rodriguez deal shows system 'woefully out of whack'</p> <p>Wednesday, February 18, 2004 Red Sox owner John Henry now believes a salary cap could be good for baseball after watching the rival Yankees trade for Alex Rodriguez -- a deal his own franchise could not complete.</p>

The National Liberation Army (ELN) was born in the aftermath of the victory of Fidel Castro and Ernesto "Che" Guevara in Cuba and its first cadres trained under them before launching their guerrilla war in Colombia in 1964. Today the 4,000-strong rebel army, with its ally and larger cousin the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), controls 40 per cent of the country. Unlike the Farc, the ELN is strapped for cash and relies on kidnapping to gather funds necessary to continue its 40-year revolutionary war. In the past three years the ELN has kidnapped more than 2,500 people, many...

<p>LOS ANGELES - A 35-year-old woman was sentenced to death Monday for poisoning her husband with a combination of antifreeze and an oleander plant.</p> <p>Angelina Rodriguez, of Montebello, will become the 15th woman on California's death row unless her sentence is altered by the state Supreme Court on appeal. Death penalty cases are automatically appealed under state law.</p>

<p>December 6, 2003 -- The five Mexican immigrants charged with savagely assaulting a woman in Queens were so anxious to rape the mom they got into a heated physical argument over who would "have relations" with her first, one of the attackers said yesterday.</p>

Report: Video Puts Suspect At Mall Where Sjodin Worked Police Sergeant: Tape Shows Rodriguez In Lot When College Student Disappeared POSTED: 7:04 a.m. EST December 5, 2003 UPDATED: 7:16 a.m. EST December 5, 2003 Authorities in North Dakota have tapes placing kidnapping suspect Alfonso Rodriguez in the mall parking lot from which authorities believe University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin was abducted last month, a Minneapolis newspaper reported. According to a report on the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper's Web site, Grand Forks police Sgt. Mike Hedlund said the tapes show the 50-year-old kidnapping suspect in a Grand Forks mall...

Ciro surprised, disappointed by Cuellar's bid for Congress BY TRICIA CORTEZ Times staff writer If the federal courts and U.S. Department of Justice approve the new Texas redistricting map, half of Laredo will fall under the congressional district represented by Ciro Rodriguez (D-San Antonio). Rodriguez, a six-year member of Congress and chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, spoke with the Laredo Morning Times this past week about his current and future legislative priorities. He also spoke about the current political mood in Washington and what he described as the difficulties of working with the Republican administration and Republican-held Congress on...

Redistricting petition Democrats press Ashcroft to reject plan BY MARK HELM Hearst Newspapers WASHINGTON - Democratic leaders on Thursday launched an online petition asking Attorney General John Ashcroft to reject the new Texas congressional redistricting map that could give Republicans up to seven additional House seats. "This plan clearly violates minority votes rights and any fair review would reject it quickly," said House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "The review of this plan is a test of whether John Ashcroft can be trusted to enforce the law fairly." Earlier this week, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, signed legislation that...

See the link on AIM's homepage to download and hear the full 15-20 minute audio presentation of this conversation with. This week marks the 10th anniversary of the death of White House Deputy Counsel Vincent Foster. This tape contains some of the strongest evidence that Foster was murdered. U.S. Attorney Miquel Rodriguez, the Starr's lead investigator of Foster's death, explains how the OIC and a few others concealed the crime. There is a lot of meat in this and I hope someone prepares a full transcript of this conversation with a key insider which puts much of the offical Foster...