Some of the U.S. concerns were reiterated by Negroponte when he told the Senate Intelligence Committee that Chávez was embarked on an ``activist foreign policy in Latin America that includes providing oil at favorable repayment rates to gain allies, using newly created media outlets to generate support for his . . . goals and meddling in the internal affairs of his neighbors by backing particular candidates for elective office.''
He said that if Chávez wins reelection late this year, he will likely be ready ``to continue to stifle the opposition, to reduce press freedom, and entrench himself through measures that are technically legal, but which nonetheless constrict democracy.'' ...........***
"They're all shattered, some of them depressed," Brito said, noting one Canadian woman has been working for more than 40 years with the remote Yanomami tribe in the Amazon rain forest.
………..Interior Minister Jesse Chacon has said the group operates in an area that contains uranium deposits - of interest to foreign countries for their nuclear potential. He has claimed the missionaries use sophisticated computers, satellite transmitters and other equipment unnecessary for evangelical work. New Tribes is a Protestant evangelical organization that specializes in working among 3,000 indigenous groups in the world's most remote areas. It has been in Venezuela since 1946……………..****