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Note: The following text is a quote: Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Capture of Three Members of Colombian Terrorist Group Charged with Hostage-Taking of U.S. Citizen PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, JOHN V. GILLIES, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the Miami Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") and MICHELE M. LEONHART, the Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA"), announced today the arrest of EDILBERTO BERRIO ORTIZ, a/k/a "El Gavilan," ALEJANDRO PALACIOS RENGIFO, a/k/a "El Gato," a/k/a "Yimi," and ANDERSON CHAMAPURO DOGIRAMA, a/k/a "El Tigre," a/k/a "Dairon," three members of the...

Democracy: In a little-noted agency hearing, the CIA admitted that Venezuela's Hugo Chavez rigged his recall referendum in 2004. So why does he still merit global recognition as a democratically elected leader?Anyone who steals an election has no claim to democracy. But somehow there's an exception for Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, who's still recognized as a "democratically elected" leader by the U.S. and others. It now comes to light that the CIA cybersecurity experts know he fixed his 2004 recall referendum. Two weeks ago, at a field hearing before the U.S. Election Assistance Commission in Orlando, Fla., CIA's Steve Stigall...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy sent a letter to his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez thanking him for the "tireless efforts that helped" release last week several hostages held by the Colombian guerrillas, including Ingrid Betancourt. "As we celebrate the release of Ingrid Betancourt and other 14 hostages, I thank you again for your tireless efforts that helped the hostages of Colombia to come back to freedom and the love of their beloved ones," said the French president, as quoted on Tuesday in a press release from the Venezuelan government. Early this year, Chávez welcome six hostages in Venezuela, who were unilaterally...

Global credit crunch batters Venezuela Overnight lending rate climbs as high as 90% after central bank suspends open market operationsBy Polya Lesova, MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- In a fresh example of how the global credit crunch is hitting emerging markets, Venezuela's overnight lending rate climbed to as high as 90% Thursday after the central bank said it has suspended open market operations meant for pumping liquidity into the market. (snip) "This story is not an isolated Venezuela story, but rather a developing trend," he said, adding that money markets in both developed and emerging markets aren't functioning well at...

ELKHART -- When Yoder Oil company switched to Citgo-brand oil in the early 1990s, the move was in part a political decision. Citgo is owned by the national government of Venezuela, explained Kent Yoder, chief executive of the Elkhart-based Yoder Oil company, and his company wanted to invest in oil produced in the Western Hemisphere rather than send its business to the Middle East. But that was then. Before Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called President Bush "the devil" during a September address at the United Nations. Those remarks, plus complaints about Chavez's handling of human rights in Venezuela, led to...

A Venezuelan-owned oil company will warm 12,000 rural Alaska homes this winter with an enormous gift of heating fuel that some elated residents in the Bush call a godsend -- and ironic. The donation from Houston-based Citgo will buy 100 gallons of fuel for every household in 151 villages. But the gift worth roughly $5 million comes courtesy of a country whose leftist president is pals with America's enemies and supports Iran's nuclear ambitions. Hugo Chavez also calls our president mean things, such as "genocidal murderer" and "madman." Margaret Williams of Hughes in the Interior said it doesn't matter who's...