EDITORIAL
MEXICO’S NEW PRESIDENT
The New York Times
December 2, 2006
For virtually all of Mexico’s history, whoever has ruled the country has done so with unchecked
power. Then came Vicente Fox — elected president in 2000 — a decent man with many good ideas who lacked the skill
and appetite to muscle his programs through. To some, his passivity was just what Mexico needed after 71 years
of dictatorship. For others, his failures began to give democracy a bad name.
This week marked Mr. Fox’s departure and the inauguration of Felipe Calderón. Like Mr. Fox,
Mr. Calderón favors modernizing a corrupt and antiquated energy sector, simplifying the tax system, taking
on dinosaur unions, creating jobs and improving education. The difference is that Mr. Calderón may have the
political savvy to succeed.
The political challenges he’s up against were made clear yesterday, as leftist
lawmakers whistled and catcalled through his brief inaugural ceremony. Mr. Calderón won a disputed
election with less than 36 percent of the vote, and his party controls only 41 percent of Congress.
His defeated leftist opponent, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, still insists he won, although he has lost
sympathy by vowing to block Mr. Calderón’s efforts. Mr. Calderón has gained approval, seeking reconciliation.
CHÁVEZ WIN MAY LEAVE VENEZUELA'S ECONOMY VULNERABLE
The Miami Herald
Nov. 30, 2006
CARACAS - Venezuelans are swilling aged whiskey, snapping up luxury cars and treating
themselves to plastic surgery in an oil-fueled spending spree worthy of one of the fastest-growing economies
in Latin America.
The bonanza belies fears of radical economic changes if President Hugo Chávez wins another
six-year term in elections Sunday and fulfills his pledge to begin a new, more profound phase of his self-styled
socialist revolution.
Chávez has promised a sharper break with Venezuela's capitalist past and more drastic steps
to help the poor. Clothing factory owner Noel Alvarez fears that could mean workers suddenly taking over his
plant with the government's blessing.
''Investors are nervous and uneasy,'' said Alvarez, who heads the Consecomercio chamber
representing some 200,000 small and medium-sized businesses.
CHÁVEZ'S CORRUPTION, UNFULFILLED PROMISES
The Miami Herald
Nov. 30, 2006
As Sunday's presidential election draws near, Venezuelans and their neighbors would do well
to compare Hugo Chávez's record to his rhetoric. In 1998, Chávez capitalized on public frustration and ran for
the presidency on a strong anti-corruption platform, defeating Henrique Salas Romer, former governor of the state
of Carabobo, an excellent public manager but perceived as an elitist. Eight years later, Chávez's promises remain
unfulfilled, and democracy has given way to an authoritarian regime in which the electoral system is totally
under his control.
• Voting machines are controlled by a company, Smartmatic, with a murky history.
• The Board of Directors of the Electoral Council is made up of Chávez's followers.
• The electoral registry is highly unreliable; 39,000 voters are more than 100 years
old -- one woman appears to be 175 -- and 62 persons share the same name and birth date: José Gregorio
Rodríguez González, born April 8, 1962.
ACTS OF CIVIL PROTEST ON THE RISE IN CUBA, REPORT SAYS
The Miami Herald
Nov. 30, 2006
From candlelight vigils to hunger strikes and even a mountain hike, Fidel Castro
opponents logged more than 3,300 acts of civil disobedience in Cuba last year, nearly twice the number
of the year before, according to a report to be released today.
As Castro's government continues a campaign of reprisals against dissidents that began
with a wave of arrests three years ago, members of the opposition movement say more people are speaking
up and joining up.
''Repression generates rebellion,'' said Janisset Rivero, executive director of the
Cuban Democratic Directorate, an exile organization that published Steps to Freedom, to be released tonight
at the University of Miami.
IN CONSERVATIVE CHILE, A PUSH FOR CHANGE
The Washington Post
November 30, 2006
SANTIAGO, Chile -- Emma de Ramón recently bought a condo here. But even before
she moved in, she said, everyone in the building knew one fact about her: She's gay.
De Ramón and her partner, Karen Atala, a judge, have become unintentional celebrities
since waging a battle against Chile's Supreme Court, which forced Atala to surrender custody of her three
daughters because of her relationship with de Ramón.
Now the couple has become emblematic of a segment of the population growing noticeably
bolder recently: those eager to shed Chile's questionable label as the most culturally conservative country
in Latin America.
Some of those seeking change have challenged powerful institutions, which they say
don't represent the public will. Atala and de Ramón have taken their fight outside the country to an
international human rights commission in Washington, which they hope can convince the Chilean government
that its highest court was wrong.
"Oh, we're famous now," said de Ramón, a historian who met Atala after the criminal court judge separated
from her husband in 2001. "As for myself, when I'm out in public I usually don't feel like I'm the target
of discrimination, and I don't hear disparaging comments. That's only from the Supreme Court."
MEXICAN COURT ORDERS EX-PRESIDENT TRIED IN ’68 STUDENT MASSACRE
The New York Times
November 30, 2006
MEXICO CITY, Nov. 29 — An appeals court on Wednesday cleared the way for the
arrest and trial of former President Luis Echeverría on genocide charges in connection with the
massacre of student protesters in 1968.
The court reversed earlier rulings that the statute of limitations had long since
run out, saying it had two days to go.
The ruling is the final twist in a long battle by the administration of President
Vicente Fox to charge and try Mr. Echeverría, who is 84 and in poor health, for his role in the deaths
and disappearances of hundreds of students, leftist dissidents and guerrillas in the late 1960s and
early 1970s, a period known in Mexico as “the dirty war.”
The decision was a victory for Mr. Fox, who leaves office on Friday. He staked part of his political
legacy on holding government officials responsible for past atrocities instead of forming a truth
commission with no ability to charge people with crimes.
NO HONEYMOON FOR MEXICO'S NEW LEADER
The Christian Science Monitor
December 01, 2006
MEXICO CITY – Tensions remain high in the restive southern state of Oaxaca. Defeated
leftist candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador recently declared himself the "legitimate" president. And
rival legislators came to blows this week on the floor of Congress.
There will be no honeymoon for Mexico's conservative president-elect Felipe Calderón,
who takes office Friday after winning the disputed July 2 election by less than 1 percentage point - a
vote that exposed Mexico's deep political and economic divisions.
The 44-year-old lawyer and former energy minister, a loyal member of outgoing president
Vicente Fox's conservative National Action Party (PAN), faces a fierce opposition that will immediately
test his political mettle. Despite predictions that Mr. Calderón would adopt a conciliatory approach,
given the deep political rifts, early indications are that he intends to set a firm tone by confronting
leftist opponents.
MEXICO’S BESIEGED NEW LEADER FACES TOUGH CHALLENGES
The New York Times
December 1, 2006
MEXICO CITY, Nov. 30 — It is a measure of the problems Felipe Calderón will confront as
president when he is sworn in on Friday that both his conservative supporters and leftist opponents have
camped out on the dais in Congress where the ceremony is to take place.
The leftists swear they will stop Mr. Calderón from taking the oath of office.
The conservatives vow to ensure that he does. The standoff has become comic, as legislators from
both sides have stayed up all night singing ranchero songs in between hurling fists and insults.
But the antics in Congress reflect a real gulf between people throughout this
country that opened during the hotly contested national elections in July. They also reveal the
paralysis that Mr. Calderón will have to overcome to deal with a range of pressing issues from
job creation and poverty relief to a worsening war between drug cartels and violent social strife.
FOR CHÁVEZ, FIRM RULE AND FAVORS
The Washington Post
December 1, 2006
CARACAS, Venezuela, Nov. 30 -- This country's populist president, Hugo Chávez,
beloved by his followers, has achieved a cultlike status by mixing his considerable charisma with
a free-spending policy of funneling billions into social programs. But that hasn't stopped his
oil-rich government from using every tool at its disposal to ensure that voters flock to its
side in Sunday's presidential election.
Ramon Antonio Perez, 41, found that out the hard way. Never shy about expressing his
dislike for the government, Perez said he was fired from his job in the publicly run Caracas subway
system after ignoring repeated warnings about his political activities. "From night to day," he said,
"I've been left with nothing."
At the state oil company, a young lawyer -- also opposed to the government -- described
how the red T-shirts government supporters wear are handed out in bulk to workers, who are then expected
to don them for pro-Chávez rallies.
"When everyone is in red and going to rallies and you don't go along, then you begin to worry," said the lawyer,
who asked that she not be identified for fear of being fired.
CHÁVEZ: PLOT TO KILL RIVAL HAS BEEN FOILED
The Miami Herald
Dec. 01, 2006
CARACAS - Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said on Thursday that his government had
thwarted an assassination attempt on opposition presidential candidate Manuel Rosales.
Chávez said the would-be snipers were ''fascists'' who wanted to shoot Rosales in order
to possibly disrupt the presidential election Sunday.
''It was to say that Chávez sent them to kill him and generate chaos,'' Chávez said during
a news conference. But he gave no details and there was no word on any arrests.
Rosales' campaign aides denied any such plan was afoot.
''It's a monumental lie,'' said one Rosales aide, who did not want to be identified.
''The only ones who've tried to attack Rosales were Chavistas,'' he added, referring to a recent Rosales
campaign rally that ended with Chávez supporters throwing rocks and eggs at Rosales' vehicle. ``But no
one has ever tried to kill him.''
CHÁVEZ'S LATEST ENEMY: BEER TRUCKS
The Christian Science Monitor
December 01, 2006
CARACAS, VENEZUELA – Alongside "neoliberal" economics and President Bush, Venezuelan
President Hugo Chávez has another enemy on his list: beer trucks.
On his road to Sunday's presidential election, which pits the former military colonel
turned president against Manuel Rosales, a conservative candidate backed mostly by Venezuela's middle
and upper class, Mr. Chávez has ordered the National Guard to stop delivery trucks from selling beer
in the streets of poor neighborhoods.
Only licensed establishments can sell alcohol legally here.
"It's the degeneration of society," Chávez said in a televised speech in October. "It's one of the causes
of public drunkenness in the slums.... No more trucks."
DESPITE CLAIMS, PROBLEMS PLAGUE VENEZUELA'S OIL INDUSTRY
The Miami Herald
Dec. 01, 2006
CARACAS - The state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela SA oil company pumps up its future
on its website, touting creation of the ''New PDVSA'' and boldly declaring it will reach 5.8 million
barrels per day of production by 2012.
But the reality, punctuated by refinery fires, electricity blackouts and doubts
over production, may be something far more sobering for the world's fifth largest exporter and one
of the top suppliers of crude to the United States.
Projections aside, production seems stagnant. While the Venezuelan government
claims PDVSA produces 3.3 million barrels per day, the U.S. government, OPEC and the Paris-based
International Energy Agency all say the company is producing somewhere in the range of 2.6 million barrels.
Meanwhile, the refineries troubles cannot be hidden. The latest mishap occurred
last Friday when PDVSA had what it called an ''operational event'' at its Amuay refinery. PDVSA did
not clarify what that meant, but a local newspaper reported an explosion.
VENEZUELA'S CHÁVEZ NEARS A VICTORY FED BY FREE STEW
The Christian Science Monitor
December 01, 2006
CARACAS, VENEZUELA – Odalys Ibarra has lived in the same home - a decrepit, two-bedroom
brick house that she shares with 10 others - her entire life.
Yet these days, on her walk home up the steep slope of El Valle, one of the poorest
neighborhoods in this capital city, she passes a free medical clinic staffed with Cuban doctors, a
supermarket that sells discounted rice and tomato sauce, and a state-funded kitchen that prepares
and gives out free meat stew and cookies - programs called "missions" that are the cornerstone of
President Hugo Chávez's domestic policy.
While Mr. Chávez's strident anti-Americanism has caused ripples abroad - calling President Bush the
devil and supporting leftist candidates and leaders throughout Latin America, as well as befriending
Iran and North Korea - those with the power to vote him into another six-year term this Sunday care
more about his social missions than his international mediations.
After eight years at the helm of Venezuela - having withstood a coup attempt, a national
oil strike led by his opponents, and a recall referendum in 2004 that he easily won - Mr. Chávez is poised
to prevail in the 2006 presidential election on Sunday. The latest state-funded poll by the US firm Evans/
McDonough puts him 19 points ahead of his only opponent, Manuel Rosales, a career politician and governor
of the oil-rich western state of Zulia.
RAÚL SITS IN AT BIG PARTY
The Miami Herald
Dec. 02, 2006
Raúl Castro on Friday turned up at a ceremony marking brother Fidel's 80th birthday amid
conflicting reports that Fidel is not suffering from cancer but is still too sick to attend the main event
today
Raúl's daughter told the Reuters news agency in Havana that Fidel is unlikely to
show at the main event celebrating his birthday, a military parade in Havana today.
'He's not going to the festivities, because everybody is telling him,
`We don't want you to move.' We're going to celebrate, but he should stay away and take
it easy,' '' Mariela Castro told Reuters.
''My impression as an ordinary Cuban is that we are going to have him in another role, as
the wise 80-year-old leader that now is going to take care of himself,'' she said.
NEW PRESIDENT TAKES HELM OF DIVIDED MEXICO
The Washington Post
December 2, 2006
MEXICO CITY, Dec. 1 -- Felipe Calderón, a free-trade booster and career politician,
was sworn in as president of Mexico on Friday in a ceremony undercut by lawmakers' jeers and fisticuffs,
a chaotic scene that reflected the country's deep political and economic divisions.
Calderón, 44, slipped through a side door into the congressional chamber to recite
the oath of office, as opposition legislators made a final push to barricade the entrances and block his
inauguration. Moments earlier, rival lawmakers had brawled briefly on the assembly's floor, shoving
each other and throwing chairs.
The perfunctory ceremony lasted less than five minutes and was nearly drowned out by
whistling and catcalls from opponents who said Calderón had stolen the July election through fraud.
It was an unprecedented departure from the typical somber pageantry of Mexico's transfer of power and
a long way from the mass euphoria that greeted Vicente Fox's 2000 election victory, which ended 71 years
of single-party rule. It was also an indication of the challenges that await Calderón.
AMID CATCALLS, MEXICO’S PRESIDENT IS SWORN IN
The New York Times
December 2, 2006
MEXICO CITY, Dec. 1 — It was not pretty, but Felipe Calderón, the new president
of Mexico, managed to take the oath of office in Congress Friday, as opposition lawmakers whistled
and catcalled and the losing leftist candidate staged a massive march down the central avenue of
the capital.
Never before in modern Mexican history has a president been sworn in under such
chaotic and divisive conditions. At midnight, as President Vicente Fox’s term ran out, the government
took the step of broadcasting the private swearing-in of Mr. Calderón at the presidential residence,
a legal necessity usually not publicized.
Minutes later, Mr. Calderón spoke on national television to urge lawmakers to
“respect the Constitution” and let the ceremony take place.
The call went unheeded. Mr. Calderón’s opponents from the leftist Democratic Revolution Party tried to
block the entrances to Congress to prevent him from being publicly sworn in. But with his conservative
National Action Party supporters ringing the podium, he and Mr. Fox were spirited in by bodyguards
through a door near the dais at the front of the chamber at 9:50 a.m.
AS CRIME SOARS FOR VENEZUELA, CHÁVEZ COASTS
The New York Times
December 2, 2006
CARACAS, Venezuela, Dec. 1 — Walk into an emergency room in many poor parts of
this booming, oil-rich nation on a weekend night and you will be overwhelmed — victims of gunshot
wounds and drunken clashes line the corridors. Homicides are up 67 percent since 1999, and violent
crime is the top concern of Venezuela’s voters as they head to the polls on Sunday.
Yet the man in charge since then, President Hugo Chávez, rarely addresses the
problem publicly and is sailing toward an easy election for a third time. Analysts say Mr. Chávez
is able to ignore the issue by governing through a system of extensive handouts that eases the
purchase of basic goods but does little to ensure public order.
“Chávez has shielded himself from the issue because people see his government
as an important arbiter in their daily life,” said Miguel Tinker-Salas, an expert on Venezuelan history
at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif. “Chávez’s policies have made a difference among the poor, and
that’s what is recognized.” He pointed to subsidized groceries, health care and literacy, in particular.
VENEZUELA’S ECONOMIC BOOM BUOYS CHÁVEZ
The New York Times
December 3, 2006
CARACAS, Venezuela, Dec. 2 — To understand why Hugo Chávez seems set for victory
in Sunday’s presidential election and a strengthened mandate for what he calls a socialist revolution,
consider the vigor here of that most capitalist of institutions: the stock exchange.
Housed in El Rosal, an upscale district with new skyscrapers and hotels, the 59-year-old
Caracas stock exchange was the site of frenzied trading this week. Its main index climbed to a record high
of 46,741, topping off a 129.2 percent rise this year that has made it one of the best performing markets
in the world. On Friday, the index climbed 8 percent for its biggest daily gain in four years.
“For all of Chávez’s faults, his government has been extremely pragmatic in economic
terms,” said José Guerra, a former chief of economic research at Venezuela’s central bank.
“State-supported capitalism isn’t just surviving under Chávez,” he said. “It is thriving.”
CHÁVEZ AIMING FOR A LANDSLIDE
The Miami Herald
Dec. 03, 2006
CARACAS - Billboards, banners and graffiti lined the streets of Caracas on Saturday
as Venezuelans readied for a tough-fought presidential election between incumbent Hugo Chávez and
opposition candidate Manuel Rosales.
While Chávez supporters clad in his signature red and others in Rosales's blue
called for people to vote, soldiers and police began to deploy near some of the more than 33,000
voting centers that will be used in today's election.
The balloting will be a fitting end to an unusually active period of elections in
Latin America and the Caribbean -- 12 in the past year -- largely split between left and right-of-center
candidates. Today's election looks to be a tiebreaker of sorts.
Chávez, a self-proclaimed socialist and enemy of the Bush administration, does not seem satisfied with
simply winning: He is aiming for 10 million votes, out of nearly 16 million registered voters, and his
campaign has stamped two open hands -- 10 fingers -- on baseball hats and T-shirts across the country
to promote this goal.
A PARTY WITHOUT FIDEL CASTRO
The Miami Herald
Dec. 03, 2006
In a clear signal that Cuba's post-Fidel Castro era has begun, the ailing leader
failed to appear at a massive military parade in his honor Saturday while his brother and designated
successor delivered an inaugural speech of sorts.
Without explaining his brother's absence, Raúl Castro reiterated his willingness
to negotiate an end to the almost 50 years of animosity between Washington and Havana -- but on his
own terms.
''We want to reaffirm our disposition to resolve at the negotiating table the
prolonged dispute between the United States and Cuba, if and when they accept our country's condition
that it will not tolerate any shadows over its independence,'' Raúl Castro said.
Many Cuba watchers had expected Fidel Castro to make his first public appearance at the parade, after
he had surgery in July and ''temporarily'' surrendered the presidency to his younger brother. At that
time, Castro asked that celebrations for his 80th birthday on Aug. 13 be postponed until Saturday.
A RARE SILENCE REVERBERATES IN CASTRO’S LONG GOODBYE
The New York Times
December 3, 2006
HAVANA, Dec. 2 — In his day, Fidel Castro could not stop talking. He was Cuba’s
talk show host as well as its president, with his frequent long speeches broadcast into homes on radio
and television serving as something akin to background music in Cubans’ lives.
Anything that popped into his head was material, whether it was his reflections
on Cuban history, his outrage at Washington or a meandering story that left audiences scratching
their heads.
Now, though, Mr. Castro, Cuba’s ailing leader, is silent, leaving a gap on state-run
broadcasts and confused audiences.
On Saturday, the final day of a weeklong belated birthday celebration for the 80-year-old Mr. Castro,
Cubans expected one last discourse. But he was a no-show at a flashy military parade that capped the
week of festivities. That left many Cubans convinced that their leader of nearly half a century had
delivered his final speech.
VENEZUELANS BEGIN VOTING FOR PRESIDENT
The Miami Herald
Dec. 03, 2006
CARACAS - The last of the Venezuelan voters trickled through the polling places
early this evening, leaving 27 million anxious citizens to await the results of a presidential
election that pits incumbent Hugo Chávez against former Zulia state Gov. Manuel Rosales.
Pre-election polls indicated showed Chávez, a leftist socialist with a strong
anti-Bush administration bent who has run Venezuela since 1999, was expected to defeat the more
U.S.-friendly Rosales. But some Rosales campaign aides were predicting a surprise victory for
their candidate.
Authorities said the voter turnout was likely a record as lines wrapped around
entire city blocks while citizens read newspapers or played brain teasers to pass the almost five
hours that some of them waited to vote.
Despite initial complaints by Rosales forces, international and local observers reported few incidents
and nothing that would significantly undermine the vote.
WITH CHÁVEZ, SOME VENEZUELAN ENTREPRENEURS SEE OPPORTUNITY
The Washington Post
December 3, 2006
CARACAS, Venezuela, Dec. 2 -- Venezuela's business establishment often warns
that if President Hugo Chávez wins reelection Sunday, it won't take long before the populist
firebrand transforms Venezuela into a communist state, dooming its oil-rich economy. Alejandro
Uzcategui, an industrialist here, couldn't disagree more.
Overseeing a variety of companies, Uzcategui is among a growing number of business
leaders who reject the doom-and-gloom scenario and see something else entirely in Venezuela's free-spending
government: opportunity.
"We think President Hugo Chávez has done a very good job," said Uzcategui, president
of an association, Entrepreneurs for Venezuela, that is closely allied with the government. "Here there
has been incredible growth in companies. There are businesses that close, sure, but they don't close
because of Chávez."
Eight years into what Chávez calls "21st century socialism," Venezuela's economy has evolved into
one marked by contradictions: the highest growth rate in the Americas and grinding underemployment,
out-of-control consumerism and a lack of investment, troubling uncertainty and golden prospects.
The economy is expected to expand by more than 8 percent this year, the highest rate in South America.
Gross domestic product has shot up from about $92 billion in 2002 to a projected $170 billion this year.
The torrent of oil revenue filters down to companies and consumers, who are on a buying binge for luxury
cars, penthouse apartments and 48-inch plasma television sets.
VENEZUELA'S CHÁVEZ WINS DECISIVE VICTORY
The Washington Post
December 4, 2006
CARACAS, Venezuela, Dec. 3 -- By an overwhelming margin, Venezuelans reelected President
Hugo Chávez on Sunday, further extending a presidency that began when the former paratrooper was swept into
power eight years ago, intent on overturning Venezuela's old social order. Chávez will receive another six
years in office to broaden his leftist revolution and contest American initiatives across Latin America.
"Today is a new era," the fiery populist leader told screaming supporters. "Venezuela is red,
very red."
With 78 percent of the votes counted by 10 p.m., electoral authorities announced that
Chávez, 52, had secured 61.3 percent of the vote to 38.4 percent for Manuel Rosales, whose candidacy
united a fractured opposition that included former guerrillas, industrialists and right-wing radicals,
but had only four months to gather momentum. Minutes after the National Electoral Council announced
that Chávez had garnered 5.9 million votes to 3.7 million for Rosales, the president appeared at the
balcony of the presidential palace.
Euphoric supporters, ignoring a downpour, burst into the streets, waving flags, shooting off fireworks and
chanting pro-Chávez slogans.
VENEZUELANS CAST VOTES AT THE ORANGE BOWL
The Miami Herald
Dec. 04, 2006
Thousands of Venezuelans cast their presidential ballot Sunday at the Orange Bowl.
Some came by car, others on foot or bicycle and still others by the busload -- quite a few as early
as 4 a.m., two hours before the polls opened.
Those who voted here overwhelmingly backed the lead opposition candidate Manuel
Rosales with 10,679 votes, over only 242 for President Hugo Chávez, according to volunteer pollwatchers
who said they tallied results from individual booths at the stadium. Miami Venezuelan consulate
officials did not confirm those results but did not dispute them either late Sunday.
In Miami, the largest voting district outside Venezuela, there was little wait
for most voters to cast paper ballots in 37 voting tables.
PINOCHET IN INTENSIVE CARE AFTER HEART ATTACK
The Washington Post
December 4, 2006
SANTIAGO, Chile, Dec. 3 -- Gen. Augusto Pinochet, a former military dictator accused
of killing and torturing thousands of people, underwent emergency angioplasty and was placed in intensive
care after suffering a heart attack Sunday morning, his family and doctors said.
Pinochet, 91, was expected to be monitored for the next 24 to 48 hours to see whether a bypass
was necessary. Doctors have called that procedure extremely risky and were seeking to avoid it.
"He is stable but of course serious," said Juan Ignacio Vergara, a doctor at the
military hospital where Pinochet was taken.
Pinochet, who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, has multiple health problems, including diabetes,
and has suffered several strokes over the past six years.
Pinochet was under house arrest at his home in an upscale Santiago neighborhood when a family member
called for an ambulance. Special judicial permission was granted to transfer Pinochet to the hospital.
Pinochet's son Marco Antonio Pinochet said the doctors performed surgery "to virtually save him from
death. He's bad, very bad."
PINOCHET IN STABLE CONDITION AFTER HEART ATTACK
The New York Times
December 4, 2006
SANTIAGO, Chile, Dec. 3 — Gen. Augusto Pinochet, the former dictator of Chile,
suffered a serious heart attack on Sunday morning and underwent angioplasty and, later in the day,
another surgical procedure, hospital officials and his family said.
General Pinochet, who turned 91 on Nov. 25, underwent the angioplasty in the morning,
said his son Marco Antonio Pinochet, who added that the procedure had “virtually rescued him from death.”
Hospital officials said he was to have bypass surgery that afternoon.
Later, a news release from the Military Hospital of Santiago, where he is being treated,
said that the second procedure was instead an evaluation of the angioplasty, and that his condition was
“stable.”
MODERATE EXILE GROUPS JOIN IN URGING EASING OF CUBA RESTRICTIONS
The Miami Herald
Dec. 04, 2006
An umbrella group of influential Cuban exile organizations has joined the growing
chorus of Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits calling for the United States to ease restrictions
on travel and remittances to Cuba.
About two dozen exile organizations, speaking in unison under the umbrella group Consenso
Cubano, or Cuban Consensus, will release a report today calling for the Bush administration to ease travel
restrictions. The groups say U.S. policies that restrict Cubans from visiting family members and that limit
remittances and other humanitarian aid ``violate fundamental rights of Cubans, damage the Cuban family,
and constitute ethical contradictions.''
The announcement underscores a growing rift between hard-line exile leaders who want to
preserve the sanctions, and more moderate Cuban Americans in Miami and dissidents in Cuba who feel that
increasing interaction can help promote a peaceful transition to democracy.
DELAYED HAITIAN ELECTIONS MOSTLY PEACEFUL
The Miami Herald
Dec. 04, 2006
PORT-AU-PRINCE - AP) -- Haitians cast ballots Sunday in long-awaited municipal
and local elections marked by low voter turnout and isolated reports of violence.
Some 29,000 candidates were vying for 1,420 local and municipal posts in Sunday's vote,
billed as the final step in the troubled Caribbean country's return to democratic rule following a bloody
February 2004 revolt that toppled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Assailants burned two polling stations and shot and wounded a man in the northern
town of Limonade, local media reported. Police later shot and wounded an official of the Fusion party
after they found him with two Molotov cocktails.
In the Port-au-Prince slum of Martissant, automatic gunfire rang out after polls opened, but there
were no immediate reports of injuries. Rival gangs have been fighting for weeks and had threatened
to disrupt the polling, residents said.
CHÁVEZ EASILY WINS A NEW TERM
The Miami Herald
Dec. 04, 2006
CARACAS - President Hugo Chávez won his third presidential bid in eight years on Sunday,
defeating career politician Manuel Rosales and boosting his ''21st Century Socialism,'' which includes widespread
social projects, increasing relations with countries such as Cuba and Iran, and diminishing relations with the
United States.
The National Electoral Council, or CNE, announced at 9 p.m. EST that Chávez had
received 61 percent of the vote and Rosales 38 percent, with 78 percent of the votes counted.
The victory was greeted with fireworks, small parades, dancing and chants of ''Uh, Ah,
Chávez no se va!'' -- Chávez will not go -- throughout a rain-soaked Caracas.
''Long live this day of victory! -- your destiny was already written!'' Chávez told the thousands of
red-clad supporters who had gathered in front of the presidential palace to celebrate with their leader.
CHÁVEZ WINS EASILY IN VENEZUELA
The New York Times
December 4, 2006
CARACAS, Venezuela, Dec. 3 — President Hugo Chávez was re-elected in a
landslide on Sunday night, as voting tallies poured in from throughout the country. Mr.
Chávez’s main opponent conceded defeat, paving the way for the president to begin a new six-year term.
With 78 percent of the votes counted, Mr. Chávez was ahead with 61 percent, compared
with 38 percent for Manuel Rosales, the governor of Zulia State, Venezuela’s electoral council said late
Sunday night as it declared Mr. Chávez the winner. Thousands of supporters filed into the streets around
Miraflores, the presidential palace downtown, to hear Mr. Chávez deliver a victory speech in the rain.
“Long live the socialist revolution!” Mr. Chávez yelled to the crowd, pumping his fist in
the air. His supporters, many of them dancing, reacted by chanting, “Ooh-ah, Chávez isn’t leaving!”
NEWS ANALYSIS
VENEZUELANS GIVE CHÁVEZ A MANDATE TO TIGHTEN HIS GRIP
The New York Times
December 5, 2006
CARACAS, Venezuela, Dec. 4 — If President Hugo Chávez rules like an autocrat, as
his critics in Washington and here charge, then he does so with the full permission of a substantial
majority of the Venezuelan people, Sunday’s election here showed.
Sent to power for a third time, Mr. Chávez seems intent on assuming the mantle from the
fading Fidel Castro of chief Latin American scourge of the United States. He also has made no secret
of his intent to consolidate his power further through legal and personnel changes.
He has spoken of a desire to unite his supporters in one political party and to alter
legislation to allow him to remain in power past 2020.
Winning support for such measures may not be difficult in a country where his allies already control the
legislature and the Supreme Court as well as governorships in all but two states, and where the military,
the national oil company and other government bureaucracies and institutions have been systematically
packed with Chávez boosters and stripped of opponents.
COLOMBIA TO EXPOSE MILITIA'S REACH
The Christian Science Monitor
December 05, 2006
BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA – In Colombia's corridors of power, the tension is almost palpable.
People worry and wonder who might be the next target in a widening probe into connections between politicians
and the country's powerful right-wing militias that used terror and intimidation to impose their will on
the population.
Six pro-government lawmakers face questioning by the Supreme Court this week over
their alleged links to paramilitary forces in their home provinces in a scandal that is rocking the
country's political establishment to its core
.
Collusion between the right-wing militias and the US-backed government's military
and police forces is well documented by human rights groups, but until now, the extent to which the
paramilitaries had co-opted politics and local government was one of Colombia's best-known secrets.
BACKSTORY: CARACAS'S RETAIL DETAIL - ALL UNDER ONE SEA OF TARPS
The Christian Science Monitor
December 05, 2006
CARACAS, VENEZUELA – It's possible here to get a haircut, repair the soles your shoes,
or buy a custom birthday cake without ever stepping foot in a store. Street vendors, called buhoneros have
become permanent fixtures across the sidewalks of Venezuela's capital, feeding an informal economy that,
government statistics suggest, employs nearly half of the workforce.
The stalls - tarps and folding tables - have brought opportunity to thousands who might
otherwise be jobless. They've also altered the city. In downtown Caracas, the La Hoyada market has turned
a grand avenue of specialty shops into a cacophony of hawkers.
Liliana Acosta set up "shop" three months ago with a fringe of cellphones dangling
from her stall - enticing passersby with 15-cent-per-minute mobile to mobile calls. Her wares also
include skin cream and firecrackers. "What else would I do?" she says, writing up a customer's tab
on the palm of her hand.
BRAZIL'S FIRMS FORCED TO TEACH BASIC SKILLS
The Christian Science Monitor
December 06, 2006
RIO DE JANEIRO – When the work-day ended at the Reduc oil refinery on the outskirts
of Rio one day last month, most of the complex's 8,000 workers made their way home through the heavy
spring rain.
But the day wasn't over for more than 100 laborers and service workers, who headed
to the company cafeteria for career-development courses. There, in the cavernous hall, they got down
to work. Some were learning to read and write for the first time. Others were doing primary school-level
science. A few were even trying to master basic English commands.
Such scenes of adult education inside factories and businesses are increasingly common
across Brazil these days. With the education at state schools little short of risible, the pool of professional
companies such as Petrobras - the state-owned oil company that runs Reduc - are taking on the role of educators.
Heeding the warnings of economists and development specialists who fear that low standards of literacy, math,
and science are compromising Brazil's productivity, competitiveness, and even economic growth, employers
are doing something about it.
PINOCHET WEATHERING HEART ATTACK
The Miami Herald
Dec. 05, 2006
SANTIAGO, Chile - Former dictator Augusto Pinochet, whose health problems have
long helped him escape trial for abuses committed during his 1973-90 rule, was recovering Monday
from a heart attack, although doctors said his life is still in danger.
While Pinochet was being treated at a Santiago military hospital, the political
divisions and passions the 91-year-old former strongman continues to inspire among Chileans bubbled
to the surface Monday. His foes and supporters brawled and lawyers argued over whether his latest
health crisis is a legal maneuver to avoid prosecution.
Pinochet suffered a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital early Sunday.
He underwent a successful emergency angioplasty to enlarge an artery and restore the flow
of blood to his heart, physicians said.
BRAZIL TO PROTECT STRETCH OF AMAZON RAIN FOREST
The New York Times
December 5, 2006
RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec. 4 (AP) — A swath of Amazon rain forest larger than Alabama
was placed under government protection on Monday in a region infamous for violent conflicts among
loggers, ranchers and environmentalists.
The protected territory totals 57,915 square miles of the Guyana Shield region,
an area of Amazon forest stretching across international borders that contains more than 25 percent
of the world’s remaining humid tropical forests and the largest remaining unpolluted fresh water
reserves in the American tropics.
The protected areas will link to existing reserves to form a vast preservation
corridor eventually stretching into neighboring Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. While the entire
Guyana Shield corridor is not yet protected, portions of it in each country are now covered.
The Washington-based environmental group Conservation International put up $1 million to facilitate
the expansion, which preserves much of the jungle’s largely untouched north.
PINOCHET OUT OF DANGER
The Miami Herald
Dec. 06, 2006
SANTIAGO, Chile - (AP) -- Gen. Augusto Pinochet's condition is no longer
life-threatening, but doctors Tuesday dismissed claims that the former dictator's heart attack
was exaggerated to allow him to avoid prosecution for abuses during his 1973-90 regime.
A priest administered last rites to the 91-year-old Pinochet on Sunday after
he suffered an acute heart attack and surgeons performed emergency angioplasty to enlarge an
artery and restore the flow of blood to his heart.
On Tuesday, doctors said Pinochet was out of danger but that he must remain
for at least 10 days at the Santiago Military Hospital.
PROTEST LEADER ARRESTED IN MEXICO CITY
The Miami Herald
Dec. 06, 2006
OAXACA, Mexico - Police arrested the symbolic leader of a six-month protest
movement that took over the southern city of Oaxaca and left at least nine dead, hours after
he said at a news conference in Mexico City that he had gone to the capital to negotiate a
peaceful solution.
Flavio Sosa, whose heavyset, bearded presence became an emblem of the leftist
Oaxaca People's Assembly, was arrested late Monday on charges related to the barricades, vandalism
and irregular detentions carried out by some protesters.
''Sosa . . . is known for his use of violence, damaging private property and public
byways, and also burning vehicles and buildings,'' federal prosecutors said. Sosa was charged with
kidnapping, robbery, causing damages and injuries and taken to a maximum security prison just west
of Mexico City that holds some of the nation's most dangerous prisoners.
CHÁVEZ PUTS RELIGION INTO HIS REVOLUTION
The Miami Herald
Dec. 06, 2006
CARACAS - It was during a driving rain on Sunday night when newly reelected
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez took to the presidential palace balcony in central Caracas and
mentioned his latest guiding figure: Jesus Christ.
''The Kingdom of Christ is the kingdom of love, of peace; the kingdom of justice,
of solidarity, brotherhood, the kingdom of socialism,'' he told the raucous crowd celebrating below.
``This is the kingdom of the future of Venezuela.''
Hardly words of a hard-core leftist, Chávez's pronouncements were part of the
increasingly religious flavor that he has given his ''21st Century Socialism.'' These days, the president
evokes Christ almost as much as he talks about his other hero, Simón Bolívar, who led a long stretch
of the Andes to independence from Spain in the 19th Century.
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