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FEARS OVER AFTERMATH OF MEXICO FLOODS
The New York Times
November 7, 2007
VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico, Nov. 6 — Many parts of this city remained underwater on Tuesday, more than a week after torrential rain swelled rivers that then burst their banks, as the authorities and residents expressed concern about the potential for looting and for outbreaks of disease.
In the neighborhood Las Gaviotas, one of the hardest hit, the floodwaters were more than nine feet deep.
“We were the first to leave and we will be the last to go back,” said Ruth Sánchez Acosta, who was staying with friends near Villahermosa’s main cathedral.
In flooded areas of Villahermosa, the capital of the Gulf state of Tabasco, many residents paid quick visits to their houses as the waters receded to feed abandoned pets, retrieve soggy clothes and lay sodden furniture out to dry on the roof.
VENEZUELA'S SLIDE TOWARD DICTATORSHIP
OUR OPINION: CONSTITUTION CHANGES ARE POWER GRAB BY HUGO CHAVEZ
The Miami Herald
Nov. 08, 2007
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's proposed constitutional changes go far beyond ''reforms.'' The 69 amendments blessed by the Chávez-controlled legislature last week would eliminate the vestiges of democracy yet remaining in the government. Mr. Chávez could run for reelection indefinitely and concentrate virtually all state power in his hands. Democratically elected in 1998, he could rule as a dictator for decades.
Coup d'état predicted
Even one-time loyalists are condemning this unfettered power grab. Former Defense Minister Raúl Isaías Baduel, was a key player in returning Mr. Chávez to power in 2002 after a brief coup. Yet on Monday Mr. Baduel predicted that ''a coup d'état would be consummated, violating the constitutional text in a shameless way'' if voters were to approve the changes on Dec. 2, the date set for a referendum.
GUNFIRE ERUPTS AT VENEZUELA UNIVERSITY
The Miami Herald
Nov. 08, 2007
CARACAS, Venezuela --
Masked gunmen opened fire on students returning from a march in which tens of thousands of Venezuelans denounced President Hugo Chavez's attempts to expand his power through constitutional changes.
Officials said at least eight people were injured Wednesday, including one by gunfire, at the Central University of Venezuela, or UCV - the country's largest university.
Students protested in at least six other cities, and several turned violent with rock-throwing youths clashing with police shooting plastic bullets at demonstrators.
Photographers for The Associated Press saw at least four gunmen - their faces covered by ski masks or T-shirts - firing handguns at the anti-Chavez crowd at the UCV. Terrified students ran through the campus as ambulances arrived.
GUNMEN ATTACK OPPONENTS OF CHÁVEZ’S BID TO EXTEND POWER
The New York Times
November 8, 2007
CARACAS, Venezuela, Nov. 7 — Masked gunmen shot into a group of students on Wednesday at this country’s most prestigious university. The students were returning from a march here protesting changes to the Constitution proposed by President Hugo Chávez that could allow him to remain in power indefinitely.
At least eight people were injured in the mix of gunfire and rock-throwing at the Central University of Venezuela, including two who were shot, according to Antonio Rivero, the national director of civil protection. The violence followed a march by tens of thousands of students to the Supreme Court.
“At the moment the students arrived, they were attacked by others wearing hoods,” Mr. Rivero said in comments broadcast on the radio here. “We do not know what faction they belong to,” he said of the assailants.
MEXICAN FLOODS PUSH FAMILIES TO LAST ISLANDS OF HOME
The New York Times
November 8, 2007
VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico, Nov. 7 — Javier Hernández and Ángel Pérez killed a pig on Wednesday morning on their rooftop. That is where they are living.
The pig will feed four families, 14 people in all, who have lived for the past eight days on the third floor and the roof of a concrete home overlooking this flooded city. The youngest of the group is a girl, just 11 years old.
There was a sense of urgency on the rooftop, as most of the group set to work carving, curing and cooking the meat. “This is called survival,” said Mr. Hernández as he sliced the pig into slabs and passed them to Mr. Pérez, who poured salt on them. “What else can we do?”
ARGENTINE INDIAN TO BE BEATIFIED
The Miami Herald
Nov. 08, 2007
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina --
The first Argentine Indian to be beatified by the Roman Catholic church will be recognized by a papal envoy at a ceremony Sunday attended by thousands of faithful.
Ceferino Namuncura - the son of a Mapuche Indian chief who died of turbeculosis in 1905 at age 18 - has a wide following among the Argentina's poor.
Pope Benedict XVI signed a decree in July beatifying Namuncura. Beatification is sometimes the first step to sainthood.
The secretary of state for the Vatican, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, will lead the ceremony in the southern Argentine community of Chimpay. It will be the first such ceremony held in Argentina under new efforts by the pope to beatify subjects in their homelands rather than Rome.
STUDENTS EMERGE AS A LEADING FORCE AGAINST CHÁVEZ
The New York Times
November 10, 2007
CARACAS, Venezuela, Nov. 9 — Finding Yon Goicoechea, a leader of the nascent student movement protesting the expanding power of President Hugo Chávez, is not easy. He changes cellphones every few days. After receiving dozens of death threats, he moves among the apartments of friends here each day in search of a safe place to sleep.
Supporters and opponents of President Hugo Chávez clashing Wednesday in Caracas, Venezuela, during a march against a scheduled referendum on changes to the country’s Constitution.
In an interview this week in a back room at one such residence, a villa in a leafy district in this city, Mr. Goicoechea described the movement that has supplanted traditional political parties in recent weeks as the most cohesive and respected challenger to Mr. Chávez’s government.
NEW UNREST WORRIES CHAVEZ AHEAD OF VOTE
The Miami Herald
Nov. 10, 2007
CARACAS, Venezuela --
The defection of Venezuela's former military chief coupled with massive protests that have turned violent have given President Hugo Chavez a potentially explosive mixture to worry about as he seeks to expand his power through constitutional changes.
But the rudderless political opposition has yet to demonstrate it can galvanize the unexpected upheaval into a united front capable of defeating a Dec. 2 referendum on proposed amendments.
University students have taken the lead in protests that have drawn tens of thousands - sidelining political parties discredited by several failed attempts to topple Chavez during his eight years in office.
THOUSANDS OF ARGENTINES DECRY PULP PLANT
The Miami Herald
Nov. 10, 2007
GUALEGUAYCHU, Argentina --
Some 20,000 demonstrators marched to Argentina's river border with Uruguay on Saturday to protest the impending startup of a paper pulp plant in the neighboring country they fear will pollute the environment.
The peaceful protest came two days after Uruguay authorized the Finnish-built plant to begin converting eucalyptus trees into pulp, the base ingredient for paper. Uruguay says its studies show it will operate within legal pollution limits.
But the Argentine government and environmentalists object to the plant, which is located on the border river, saying soybean, citrus and other crops in Argentina are at risk of contamination.
VENEZUELANS SCRAMBLE FOR FOOD AMID OIL OPULENCE
The Washington Post
November 11, 2007
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan construction worker Gustavo Arteaga has no trouble finding jobs in this OPEC nation's booming economy, but on a recent Monday morning he skipped work as part of a more complicated search -- for milk.
The 37-year-old father-of-two has for months scrambled to find basic products like cooking oil, beef and milk, despite leftist President Hugo Chavez's social program that promises to provide low-cost groceries to the majority poor.
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
IN VENEZUELA, THERE'S NO FREEDOM 'AFTER' EXPRESSION
The Miami Herald
Nov. 11, 2007
Critics of Venezuela's narcissist-Leninist President Hugo Chávez often joke that in Venezuela there is freedom of expression, but not freedom after expression. Last week, their pun proved right.
Twelve students were wounded at the state-run Central University of Venezuela in Caracas as they were returning from an 80,000-strong opposition protest in front of the Supreme Justice Tribunal.
They were demanding a postponement of a Chávez-convoked Dec. 2 referendum that would grant the president extraordinary powers to suppress fundamental freedoms and be reelect indefinitely.
SPANISH KING TELLS CHAVEZ TO 'SHUT UP'
The Miami Herald
Nov. 11, 2007
SANTIAGO, Chile --
The king of Spain told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to "shut up" Saturday during a heated exchange that soured the end of a summit of leaders from Latin America, Spain and Portugal.
Chavez, who called President Bush the "devil" on the floor of the United Nations last year, triggered the exchange by repeatedly referring to former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar as a "fascist."
Aznar, a conservative who was an ally of Bush as prime minister, "is a fascist," Chavez said in a speech at the Ibero-American summit in Santiago, Chile. "Fascists are not human. A snake is more human."
CHAVEZ LASHES BACK AT SPANISH KING
The Miami Herald
Nov. 11, 2007
SANTIAGO, Chile --
President Hugo Chavez lashed back at Spain's king Sunday for telling him to "shut up" during a summit, suggesting the monarch knew in advance of a 2002 coup that briefly ousted the Venezuelan leader from power.
Chavez claimed that Spain's ambassador had backed interim president Pedro Carmona and appeared at Venezuela's presidential palace during the two-day coup in 2002. He demanded to know how deeply King Juan Carlos had been involved.
"Mr. King, did you know about the coup d'etat against Venezuela, against the democratic, legitimate government of Venezuela in 2002?" Chavez said before reporters in Santiago. "It's very hard to imagine the Spanish ambassador would have been at the presidential palace supporting the coup plotters without authorization from his majesty."
SOCIALIST: KING RIGHT TO ADMONISH CHAVEZ
The Miami Herald
Nov. 12, 2007
MADRID, Spain --
Spain's king was right to tell Hugo Chavez to "shut up" at a summit because the Venezuelan president had insulted Spain's former prime minister, the governing party said Monday.
Spain wants good relations with Latin American countries but will not tolerate a lack of respect for its citizens, in this case a prominent one like former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, said Diego Lopez Garrido, spokesman in Parliament for the Socialist Party.
"This is a fundamental, democratic principle, one that governs relations between countries," Lopez Garrido told a news conference.
SOCIALIST: KING RIGHT TO ADMONISH CHAVEZ
The Washington Post
November 12, 2007
MADRID, Spain -- Spain's king was right to tell Hugo Chavez to "shut up" at a summit because the Venezuelan president had insulted Spain's former prime minister, the governing party said Monday.
Spain wants good relations with Latin American countries but will not tolerate a lack of respect for its citizens, in this case a prominent one like former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, said Diego Lopez Garrido, spokesman in Parliament for the Socialist Party.
"This is a fundamental, democratic principle, one that governs relations between countries," Lopez Garrido told a news conference.
CHÁVEZ KEEPS RANTING AFTER A ROYAL `SHUT UP'
The Miami Herald
Nov. 12, 2007
CARACAS --
Latin America and Spain buzzed Sunday at the unprecedented move by Spain's King Juan Carlos to tell Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to ''shut up'' at a regional presidential summit on Saturday.
But Chávez on Sunday showed no signs of shutting up, instead demanding to know whether the king had supported the short-lived coup attempt against Chávez in 2002.
''Mr. King, did you know about the coup d'etat against Venezuela, against the democratic, legitimate government of Venezuela in 2002?'' Chávez asked. ``It's very hard to imagine the Spanish ambassador would have been at the presidential palace supporting the coup plotters without authorization from His Majesty.''
Chávez has a long history of ripping others, calling President Bush ''the devil'' a year ago at the United Nations, in perhaps the most notorious example.
WILL CHAVEZ PULL THE TRIGGER?
Los Angeles Times
November 13, 2007
On that day, if Venezuelan citizens pass the dozens of constitutional amendments on the ballot, Chavez will essentially be granted dictatorial powers -- an elected strongman reminiscent of Spain's Franco, Italy's Mussolini and Orwell's Big Brother. The day could easily deteriorate into one of violence, martial law and suspension of oil production, the latter calculated to inflict maximum damage on the U.S. economy.
With the price of oil hovering near $100 a barrel and markets skittish because of the sub-prime housing crisis (not to mention the stability of U.S. banks, the U.S. trade deficit, the weak dollar and deteriorating domestic consumer confidence), such a move on Chavez's part would go a long way in triggering a recession. An oil crisis during the Christmas season -- with its 40% share of annual retail sales -- would be especially
detrimental in the U.S.
U.N.: CUBAN OFFICIALS WERE AT NEWS CONFERENCE
The Miami Herald
Nov. 13, 2007
GENEVA --
(AP) -- The United Nations has expressed regret that undercover Cuban officials attended a U.N. news conference on human rights, where they sought information on a French journalist asking critical questions about Fidel Castro's regime.
Elena Ponomareva, spokeswoman for the global body's European headquarters, said she was unable to prevent two Cuban diplomats from entering the Oct. 11 news event with Jean Ziegler, a U.N. rights expert who was preparing for a mission to the communist-run island.
The U.N. strictly prohibits government officials from attending news conferences unless they are explicitly invited and included among those presenting. Previous run-ins have occurred with Sudanese diplomats seeking to monitor rights officials speaking about Darfur.
POLITICAL STORM BREWS OVER NICARAGUAN AID DISTRIBUTION
The Miami Herald
Nov. 13, 2007
MANAGUA --
As the waters recede following more than 50 days of biblically proportioned rains that claimed more than 200 lives and caused an estimated $392 million in damage, a political storm is gathering over Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's handling of the disaster.
Allegations that the Sandinista Front is politicizing the distribution of humanitarian aid for Hurricane Felix has led to rumblings of rebellion on the coast and calls for an investigation by opposition lawmakers in Managua.
On Oct. 31, several hundred Miskito Indians from the northern Caribbean regional capital of Bilwi took over the airport's storage warehouses in search of relief aid, which they claim is not getting to the communities that were devastated by the Category 5 storm two months ago.
CHAVEZ: NO NEED FOR SPANISH INVESTMENT
The Miami Herald
Nov. 13, 2007
CARACAS, Venezuela --
President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday he hopes a spat with Spanish King Juan Carlos doesn't spiral into a diplomatic crisis but that Venezuela doesn't need Spanish investment.
Chavez said the monarch showed disrespect and arrogance when he interjected, "Why don't you shut up?" to the Venezuelan leader at a summit in Chile on Saturday.
"He disrespected me, and he was laid bare before the world in his arrogance and also his impotence," Chavez told a news conference. "We don't want this to become a political crisis."
A REMEDY FOR TRANSIT TROUBLES BACKFIRES IN CHILE, LEADING COMMUTERS TO SUE
The Washington Post
November 13, 2007
SANTIAGO, Chile -- Hardly anyone argued with the overall goal: relieve the transit woes of another growing Latin American city by remodeling the local bus system to complement a recently expanded subway system.
But months after this city's transportation redesign was unveiled, many people here cannot even mention its name -- Transantiago -- without rolling their eyes and mumbling in disgust. It has become the focus of the country's largest class-action lawsuit. A congressional inquiry is trying to figure out exactly how things went so wrong.
"Bad, bad, bad, bad," said Rosana Ramirez, 32, offering a passionate appraisal while waiting for a city bus. "I used to wait five minutes for a bus, now it's 20 or 30. I'd take the subway, but it's so crowded now because no one wants to take the bus. I feel like a sardine on it."
ONLINE GAMING BAN ENDANGERS COSTA RICAN JOBS
The Miami Herald
Nov. 13, 2007
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica --
Alina Trejos used to live relatively well, buying a car, paying for college and even taking a European vacation on her salary from a job taking bets on American football.
No more.
A controversial U.S. crackdown on the $12 billion online gaming industry has hit hard in Costa Rica, where an abundance of English speakers and lax laws once made it home to the highest concentration of Internet gambling companies in the world -- nearly 200 -- and earned it the nickname of the ``Las Vegas of the Internet.''
''The Golden Age is definitely over,'' said Nelson Rose, a professor at Whittier College in Southern California and leading expert on gambling laws.
At least 20 online gambling companies with operations here have shut down or are planning to flee to places like Malta since the United States began going after sports books two years ago, according to Eduardo Agami, president of an online gambling trade association in Costa Rica.
LUIS HERRERA CAMPÍNS, VENEZUELA LEADER, DIES AT 82
The New York Times
November 13, 2007
CARACAS, Venezuela, Nov. 11 — Luis Herrera Campíns, a former president whose years in office were marked by bountiful oil riches and a painful economic bust when oil prices plunged in the early 1980s, died here on Friday. He was 82.
Mr. Herrera Campíns had multiple health problems, including a kidney infection and Alzheimer’s disease, the Caracas daily newspaper El Universal said.
When his term began in 1979, he inherited a country with South America’s highest per capita income and a decades-old democracy in a region of military dictatorships. But a spending spree by his predecessor, Carlos Andrés Pérez, who had nationalized the oil industry, left ballooning foreign debt.
MEXICAN LANDSLIDE TOLL RISES TO 14
The Miami Herald
Nov. 13, 2007
OSTUACAN, Mexico --
Divers found the submerged bodies Tuesday of three more people killed when a mudslide swept away a village in southern Mexico, bringing the death toll to at least 14.
The search continued for another 11 people reported missing after the Nov. 4 mudslide clogged the Grijalva river in Chiapas state, unleashing a giant wave of water that washed away the hamlet of San Juan Grijalva.
Divers found the bodies of the three men, all residents of San Juan Grijalva, about two miles down river from the hamlet of 200 people, said Luis Garcia, Chiapas' deputy secretary of civil protection. The bodies brought the death toll from the disaster to at least 14.
MEXICO ENACTS BROAD ELECTORAL REFORM
The Miami Herald
Nov. 13, 2007
MEXICO CITY --
A broad electoral reform that infuriated Mexico's broadcast industry by barring political parties from buying radio and television advertisements will take effect on Wednesday.
The reform attempts to level the political playing field by requiring television and radio stations to broadcast 48 minutes of free political advertising each day and forbidding parties from buying their own air time. In past elections, there was no limit on how many ads political parties could buy.
It also limits presidential campaigning to three months before election day, and forbids political parties from insulting political institutions and candidates.
Mexico's two major television broadcasters denounced the political ad provision, but said they were more concerned the requirement that stations give opponents the "right to reply," which they said could chill free speech.
MEXICO MINE REPORTEDLY HAS DUST `2 TO 3 FEET HIGH'
The Miami Herald
Nov. 13, 2007
MEXICO CITY --
Employees at Mexico's largest copper mine are exposed to dangerous levels of mineral dust and acid mist, according to a report released Monday by the union whose strike has idled the mine since July.
Representatives of Mexico's National Mining and Metal Workers Union say they are prepared to strike until Grupo Mexico SAB agrees to conduct a ''massive cleanup operation'' and implement safety and training programs.
The union will send the report to President Felipe Calderón.
CHÁVEZ: KING SHOWED ARROGANCE
The Miami Herald
Nov. 14, 2007
CARACAS --
President Hugo Chávez said Tuesday he hopes a spat with Spanish King Juan Carlos doesn't spiral into a diplomatic crisis but that Venezuela doesn't need Spanish investment.
Chávez said the monarch showed disrespect and arrogance when he interjected, ''Why don't you shut up?'' to the Venezuelan leader at a summit in Chile on Saturday.
''He disrespected me, and he was laid bare before the world in his arrogance and also his impotence,'' Chávez told a news conference. ``We don't want this to become a political crisis.
MEXICO ELECTORAL REFORM BECOMES LAW
The Miami Herald
Nov. 14, 2007
MEXICO CITY --
A broad electoral reform that infuriated Mexico's broadcast industry by barring political parties from buying radio and television advertisements will take effect on Wednesday.
The reform attempts to level the political playing field by requiring television and radio stations to broadcast 48 minutes of free political advertising each day and forbidding parties from buying their own air time. In past elections, there was no limit on how many ads political parties could buy.
It also limits presidential campaigning to three months before election day and forbids political parties from insulting political institutions and candidates.
Mexico's two major television broadcasters denounced the political ad provision but said they were more concerned the requirement that stations give opponents the ''right to reply,'' which they said could chill free speech.
EX-PHONE OFFICIAL IN HONDURAS LINKED TO TAPED CALLS
The Miami Herald
Nov. 14, 2007
TEGUCIGALPA --
The former director of Honduras' state-run telephone company has been charged with illegally wiretapping the president's phone conversations, and authorities said Tuesday that he is a fugitive.
Eight taped conversations, in which a voice that sounded like President Manuel Zelaya outlined a strategy to control the nation's news media, made their way to the popular video-sharing Internet site YouTube last month.
The clips were broadcast on radio stations, sparking an investigation into Marcelo Chimirri, the former general director of state telephone company Hondutel, as well as Hondutel executives Luis Arriaga and Danilo Santos. Prosecutors say Chimirri ordered the two men to record Zelaya's phone conversations.
PET MASSACRES CARRIED OUT IN PUERTO RICO
The Miami Herald
Nov. 14, 2007
TRUJILLO ALTO, Puerto Rico --
Back roads, gorges and garbage dumps on this tropical island are littered with the decaying carcasses of dogs and cats. An Associated Press investigation reveals why: possibly thousands of unwanted animals have been tossed off bridges, buried alive and otherwise inhumanely disposed of by taxpayer-financed animal control programs.
Witnesses who spoke with the AP said that, despite pledges to deliver adoptable strays to shelters and humanely euthanize the rest, the island's leading private animal control companies generally did neither.
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