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Venezuela President Hugo Chavez warned Wednesday that his country is ready to take action against any government that takes power in Bolivia if his close ally, Evo Morales, is toppled. Chavez repeated allegations that a U.S.-backed plan was under way to prevent Morales' administration from governing effectively so that his removal could be justified later. "Venezuela will not keep its arms crossed if the Bolivian government and people are attacked from outside or within," he said in a televised speech. Venezuela will "do whatever it can so that the (next) government lasts as long as Carmonazo's did," he said, in...

The following photo essay is put up as an antidote to this week's reporting from Venezuela of Associated Press correspondent Elizabeth Nuñez for her errors of fact which, if taken as accurate and viewed from an international perspective, appear to suggest that the opposition to sitting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is only of modest intensity. Nuñez has erroneously reported on the strength of support for Chavez's opponent Manuel Rosales, who will face the Venezuelan President in a December 3 election, specifically for her drastic understating of the attendance of Rosales supporters at Sunday's "Caracas Avalanche" rally. Ms. Nuñez has...

Latin America: An eruption of anti-U.S. bluster hasn't done Hugo Chavez much good back home. Thousands of Venezuelans rallied Saturday for his challenger, Manuel Rosales. This time they may give Chavez the boot. Rosales drew big crowds, including the poor, but Chavez's own rally the next day drew only a few thousand supporters, nearly all of them angry young men in red T-shirts. Despite an oil windfall, populist social spending and a big mouth abroad, all is not well for Chavez at home. The Sunday rally may signal a swing toward Rosales, who has quietly campaigned through the countryside and...

Chavez warns of US-backed coup plot in Bolivia Press Trust of India Caracas (Venezuela), October 10, 2006 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned of a US-backed plot to topple his close ally, Bolivian leader Evo Morales. The US government "is not going to give Evo a honeymoon. A destabilising plan is already under way to impede Evo from governing," Chavez said in a televised speech on Monday. "First to impede him from governing so that the Bolivian people will become disenchanted," Chavez said. "And later, to topple him." The Venezuelan leader has suggested previously that Washington was linked to moves to...

CARACAS -- Thousands marched Saturday in the biggest show of public support yet for Venezuela's main opposition presidential candidate, who pledged to undo what he called the ills of President Hugo Chavez's government. Manuel Rosales accused the government of mismanaging the country's oil wealth and ignoring crime. He also played on fears that Chavez's close friendship with Cuban leader Fidel Castro was leading Venezuela down the same path as the communist island. "They say the Venezuelan people rule — that's a lie," said Rosales, governor of oil-rich, western Zulia state, who faces Chavez in the Dec. 3 election. "(We have)...

Who lost Nicaragua?By Oliver NorthFriday, October 6, 2006WASHINGTON, D.C. -- During the 1980 presidential campaign, Republicans pointed out that Jimmy Carter had "lost Nicaragua" to communism. The 1979 Sandinista "Revolution Without Frontiers" led by Daniel Ortega was just one of many foreign policy disasters during the Carter administration -- and Ronald Reagan assured Americans that such things wouldn't happen on his "watch." Unfortunately, Reagan is gone, and today Nicaragua looks like a case of "back to the future." On Nov. 5 -- just two days before our own mid-term congressional elections -- the people of Nicaragua will cast ballots for...

When Nicaraguans go to the polls on Nov. 5 to elect their next president, they may end up choosing an old-time communist – who could win without even getting a majority of the votes. A victory by Daniel Ortega, whose brutal Sandinista rule in the Central American country ended 16 years ago, is a growing likelihood because of millions being pumped into his campaign by the stridently anti-U.S. Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. Add to the mix indifference from the U.S. State Department, and Chavez and Cuban dictator Fidel Castro will have a new ally in their growing axis of anti-American...

Intelligence agents will be commissioned to Brazilian embassies in Venezuela and Bolivia, as the two countries have become a matter of concern in the hemisphere, official sources said Thursday. The Institutional Security Cabinet under the President's Office confirmed AFP the news disseminated in newspaper "Estado de Minas." Officials explained that they are not covert agents, but attaches who will cooperate with the domestic staff of the countries where they will be deployed. The Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin) started a process of internal selection of the officials who will be appointed to Caracas and La Paz. To date, Brazil had intelligence...

CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez called U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld a "dog of war" on Tuesday, saying the defense chief has no business suggesting neighboring countries are concerned about Venezuela's arms purchases. Chavez said it's disingenuous for Rumsfeld to say he knows of no country that is threatening Venezuela, and he insisted that the U.S. is a threat. The Venezuelan leader called on Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to clarify whether he shares Rumsfeld's worries about Venezuela's recent military acquisitions, including helicopters, fighter jets and assault rifles. CountryWatch: Venezuela "If this man is saying that my neighbors are...

President Hugo Chávez asked Tuesday his Colombian counterpart Álvaro Uribe to clarify if his government is concerned about recent purchase of weapons by Venezuela, as stated by US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. During his presentation at the meeting of Defense Ministers of the Americas held currently in Nicaragua, the US senior official argued that neighboring nations were concerned about recent procurement by Venezuela of arms and the possibility of such weapons ending in the hands of leftwing rebels. President Chávez rebutted these remarks and labeled Rumsfeld as a "war dog." "The only neighboring country of ours having guerrillas is...

Venezuelan people’s photos protest against Chavez in New York and this letter of apology, if you wish to sign it. To: Pro democracy venezuelan citizens: “After President Hugo Chavez irresponsible speech at the UN General Assembly, as a Venezuelan citizen I feel compelled to write this letter to President George W. Bush, the American people and the international community. I have added the names of Presidents Vicente Fox and Alan Garcia as they have also been victims of Mr. Chavez's verbal aggression. If you wish to sign this letter, please join me in signing this letter of apology”. Federico...

Caracas, Oct 2 (EFE).- The leading presidential candidate of the Venezuelan opposition, Manuel Rosales, said Monday that his rival in the upcoming elections, President Hugo Chavez, plans to impose communism on the country. "On Dec. 3 we Venezuelans will have to choose either a communist system or a democracy that guarantees us freedom, progress and prosperity," Rosales said Monday at a press conference.

Market forces can be very powerful indeed. ... When the Government created its supermarket network Mercal, it was supposed to be a way of delivering cheaper goods to the poor. Mercal ... paid no custom duty, received all the currency it wanted at the official rate of exchange, was handled by military at all levels so it only had to pay labor for a reduced non-military workforce. Finally, it ... would pay no taxes. ... The Government established price controls for certain foodstuffs and they applied to ... products sold by Mercal. As inflation drove prices up, the Government allowed...

CHAVEZ (through translator): "Representatives of the governments of the world, good morning to all of you. First of all, I would like to invite you, very respectfully, to those who have not read this book, to read it. Noam Chomsky, one of the most prestigious American and world intellectuals, Noam Chomsky, and this is one of his most recent books, 'Hegemony or Survival: The Imperialist Strategy of the United States.'" [Holds up book, waves it in front of General Assembly.] "It's an excellent book to help us understand what has been happening in the world throughout the 20th century,...

Hugo Chávez's anti-American rant at the United Nations left most Americans puzzled, incensed and even outraged. What makes Chávez tick? To understand him, stop thinking of oil-producing Venezuela as a Latin American country. Think of it as a dysfunctional Middle Eastern petro-state. Doing that is the key to understanding Chávez and Venezuela. Many oil-rich Arabs have a sense of cultural superiority and entitlement. So do many Venezuelans. Chavez is one of them. The 52-year-old former army lieutenant colonel grew up during Venezuela's oil boom years in the 1970s. That's when the South American nation seemed poised to attain First World...

Hugo Chavez: "I think we could call a psychiatrist to analyze yesterday's statement made by the president of the United States. As the spokesman of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums, to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world." Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.: "I sometimes feel as though Alfred E. Neuman is in charge in Washington." Chavez: "The American empire is doing all it can to consolidate its system of domination. And we cannot allow them to do that. We cannot allow world dictatorship to be consolidated." Former President...

On September 23, the first day of Rosh Hashanah, I attended services at the Park East Synagogue as I have for the last forty years. Since I left the mayoralty seventeen years ago, Rabbi Arthur Schneier has called on me during that morning service to address the congregation observing the start of the Jewish New Year, in this case 5767. I never prepare formal remarks for this occasion, preferring to listen carefully to the Rabbi's sermon and to amplify his themes. When he introduced me he said, "We normally blow the shofar (a ram's horn) on Rosh Hashanah but not...

WESTERN ALASKA: Patriotism led to a rejection of the Venezuelan handout. Leaders from four Western Alaska villages have rejected an offer of free heating oil from a Venezuelan- owned company because that nation's president this month called President Bush "a devil" and made other inflammatory comments about the United States. "Despite the critical need for fuel in our region, the Unangan (Aleut) people are Americans first, and we cannot support the political agenda attached to this donation," read a statement from Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association released late Thursday. Under a program from Texas-based refiner Citgo, which is owned by the...

Rosales accuses "Fat Fish" of the Government Opposition candidate Manuel Rosales attributed the events which occurred in La Paragua1 to "the fat fish of the government, who have a big business in [the sale of] gasoline, contraband gold, and diamonds." In a visit to Trujillo, where he carried out a campaign visit, Rosales condemned the acts. "It is one of the most clear manifestations of how an authoritarian government stimulates criminal acts and insecurity in Venezuela. The deed in La Paragua is the action of a few spineless military men, who are not the majority, who felt themselves handsome...

Jets to be sold to Mexico, Brazil, pilots trained in Venezuela 11:46 | 28/ 09/ 2006 BUENOS-AIRES, September 28 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's state-owned arms exporter said Thursday it will soon sign deals to export Sukhoi warplanes to Mexico and Brazil, and will open helicopter maintenance and pilot training centers in Venezuela. Rosoboronexport's regional department head, Sergei Ladygin, said: "We hope that Sukhoi planes will soon appear in Latin American countries." Speaking on the sidelines of a military exhibition in Argentina, SINPRODE-2006, Ladygin said Rosoboronexport will also offer a modernized version of the Mig-29 Fulcrum fighter to Mexico and Brazil....