Free Republic

Spain's Europa Press news agency reports reports that Venezuela purchased "biological and nerve agents" as well as dual-use materials from Spain sometime during the first half of 2004. According to a report about defense expenditures obtained by Europa Press, Venezuela was the only country listed under the category of "states to which chemical warfare agents and radioactive materials were sold." An English translation appears here. The accusation comes in the wake of Spain's announcement that it will sell conventional weaponry -- planes and Russian rifles -- to Venezuela. I found the story through Iberian blogger Barcepundit, who notes that "If...

Maisto offers suggestions to improve draft Summit declaration Preparations for the Fourth Summit of the Americas, to be hosted by Argentina in November, are off to a good start, but work still remains for Western Hemisphere nations as they craft a summit declaration and plan of action, according to U.S. National Summit Coordinator John Maisto. In March 25 remarks at the Civil Society Task Force "Summit in Focus" Program in Washington, Maisto said that a recent Summit Implementation Review Group meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, marked the beginning of negotiations toward a summit declaration and plan of action. The U.S....

Once proposing to raid the Central Bank's reserves, then turning to Petróleos de Venezuela to fund them, President Hugo Chavez is using his social programs, called “missions,” to hopefully buy his way through the looming referendum that threatens to recall him. Petorleos is devoting 30 percent of its investment budget this year to social projects designed to turn the heads of the electorate. Typical of the programs is the Ribas Mission, designed for the estimated 1.5 million Venezuelans over 18 who never completed high school. So far, more than 700,000 have enrolled. Meanwhile, however, critics maintain that the traditional school...

By JORGE RUEDA Associated Press Writer CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Outraging Venezuela's opposition, President Hugo Chavez has conscripted the military and the broadcast media in his bid to defeat an August recall referendum. On Tuesday, Chavez presided over the graduation of hundreds of officers from military academies. He forced all of Venezuela's broadcast media to show the event, using a law that allows him to take over the airwaves for matters of national importance. But opposition leaders charge that Chavez violated an agreement in which the government and private media pledged to give equal time to both sides in the...

Study is first to look at state figures for transfers. Latin American immigrants in Texas will send more than $3 billion back home this year to feed their families while helping their homeland economies stay afloat, according to a new study released Monday. The Inter-American Development Bank reported immigrants across the country will send $30.1 billion to Latin America in what it called the first state-by-state report on migrant remittances. For many smaller countries, such U.S. money transfers are larger than the amounts they receive in foreign aid, the report concluded. Texas ranked third overall, behind California's $9.6 billion infusion...

<p>May 11 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela has evidence of a plot to assassinate leaders from both the government and opposition groups, Defense Minister Jorge Garcia said.</p> <p>Garcia didn't say what person or group the government believes is planning the assassinations or what actions the government may take against them.</p>

OAS: Mixed Results For Latin America In Drug War WASHINGTON ( Reuters ) - Latin America and the Caribbean are doing a better job in the war on drugs but budget problems and savvy traffickers threaten that progress, the Organization of American States said on Thursday. The annual "Progress Report in Drug Control" said cultivation of illegal substances was dropping, seizures were rising or holding steady and nations increasingly were working together. The 34-member OAS includes Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Canada, some of the largest suppliers of cocaine, marijuana and heroin to the United States. "There is evidence of...

MANGARATIBA, Brazil -- At dawn on March 20, more than 200 rural workers gathered outside a banana plantation near this verdant, oceanside village. Machetes and hoes in hand, they cut the lock on the gate, stormed the plantation driveway, and cleared the brambly undergrowth to make way for makeshift bamboo cabins. Five weeks later they are still there. Their goal: to persuade the government to take the land from its owners and give it to them instead. ''We have no other choice," said Simon Silva Vargas, 70, a day laborer who participated in the raid 62 miles south of Rio...

There was a time where the mere mention of the Armed Forces [FAN] provoked in the citizenry admiration and trust. The presence of soldiers inspired respect and meant security. Even with the errors and excesses that they were always accused of, the FAN was a kind of all-purpose tool, useful, especially in moments of grave social conflict or natural catastrophes like the Bret storm or the floods in Vargas. But that feeling has changed. Used today as a repressive arm against the populace, it is seen with blood-splattered uniform, brandishing rifles, suspected of crimes, with its hands implicated in torture...

Reporting on the impending visit to Washington D.C. of a group of five envoys of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, VHeadline.com reports they will bring to the members of the press in Washington “new evidence” on the participation of President Bush in the Venezuelan events of April 2002 and on the accusation recently made by President Chavez that President Bush is the “author” of the killings of Venezuelans in April 11 and following days. These are grave accusations indeed, and I am sure that the Washington press will give due consideration to these charges. The members of the group of envoys...

HAVANA - If Latin American opponents of Washington's free trade policies join forces, they could deal the United States a blow as serious as its loss in the Vietnam War, Bolivian opposition leader Evo Morales said Thursday. "Urgent action is important," Morales told leaders of social movements from across the Americas at a gathering here attended by President Fidel Castro (news - web sites). Morales called on the leaders to come together in regional unity and "create people power." "Very soon we could celebrate in Latin America another Vietnam for the United States," Morales said, referring to the protracted conflict...