|
MR. CHAVEZ'S COUP
Editorial
The Washington Post
November 15, 2007
TENS OF thousands of Venezuelan students marched to the Supreme Court in Caracas last week to protest the new "socialist" constitutional reform that President Hugo Chavez is preparing to impose on the country. On their return, students from the Central University of Venezuela were fired on by gunmen who roared onto the campus on motorcycles. Nine were hurt; university officials later identified the shooters as members of government-sponsored paramilitary groups. That's just one example of the ugly climate of intimidation Mr. Chavez is creating in advance of a Dec. 2 referendum that he expects will formally confirm him as de facto president for life and give him powers rivaling those of his mentor, Fidel Castro.
VICTIMS OF COLOMBIAN CONFLICT SUE CHIQUITA BRANDS
The New York Times
November 15, 2007
Victims of Colombia’s civil conflict sued the banana importer Chiquita Brands International yesterday, accusing it of making payments to a paramilitary group responsible for thousands of killings.
The lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, accused Chiquita of complicity in hundreds of deaths because of its financial support of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, also known by its Spanish initials, A.U.C.
CHÁVEZ THREATENS TO RECONSIDER VENEZUELA’S TIES WITH SPAIN
The New York Times
November 15, 2007
CARACAS, Venezuela, Nov. 14 — President Hugo Chávez warned Spain on Wednesday that he would review diplomatic and business ties with it, escalating a dispute that erupted when Spain’s king told Mr. Chávez in public to “shut up.”
Mr. Chávez, who nationalized swaths of the economy this year in a move toward Socialism, has demanded that King Juan Carlos apologize for reprimanding him and threatened to take action against Spanish investments, especially in banking.
“We do not want to hurt ties, but right now I am conducting a detailed review of the political, diplomatic and economic ties with Spain,” Mr. Chávez told local television.
AP EXPOSE TRIGGERS CALLS FOR JUSTICE
The Miami Herald
Nov. 15, 2007
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico --
Puerto Rican police said Thursday that they will broaden their investigation into the alleged massacre of pets after a report by The Associated Press showed that possibly thousands of unwanted cats and dogs had been slaughtered.
Meanwhile, Carlos Carazo, who oversees the Animal Control and Protection Office in Puerto Rico's Department of Health, called for prosecutions of those responsible for the cruel killings.
"It is awful. It is a violation of animal rights. It is cruelty to animals in the most awful way," he said. "If it turns out to be true, the whole spectrum of the law should fall on the people who did it."
15,000 HOMELESS IN CHILE QUAKE
The Miami Herald
Nov. 15, 2007
TOCOPILLA, Chile --
Strong aftershocks from a powerful earthquake hit northern Chile on Thursday as the government erected a working military hospital and promised hundreds of other portable dwellings for 15,000 left homeless by the quake.
Government and army workers scrambled to distribute tons of food, water and medicine after the 7.7 magnitude quake struck near the desert village of Quillagua in the foothills of the Andes on Wednesday, killing at least two people and injuring more than 150.
Major aftershocks shook the region Thursday, including one of magnitude 6.2 and another of magnitude 6.8, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of further damage or injuries.
`¿POR QUÉ NO TE CALLAS?'
OUR OPINION: PRESIDENT CHAVEZ DESERVED THE KING'S ROYAL REBUKE
The Miami Herald
Nov. 16, 2007
We have to hand it to King Juan Carlos of Spain. He still knows how to speak up when the occasion demands it. For example, telling President Hugo Chávez to ``Shut up.''
For more than 30 years, King Juan Carlos has been a popular figure within his own country and the model of what a modern European monarch should be. After the death of Generalissimo Francisco Franco in 1975, he presided over a political transformation of Spain that ushered in a new era of democracy and prosperity.
NICARAGUA AFTER FELIX
OUR OPINION: PROVIDE DISASTER AID TO PEOPLE WHO NEED IT MOST
The Miami Herald
Nov. 16, 2007
The death and destruction left in Nicaragua by Hurricane Felix last September is now being compounded by a political disaster: the growing complaints that the Sandinista government is distributing relief aid based on party loyalty.
Those rumblings should worry President Daniel Ortega. Nicaraguan governments have botched responses to a natural calamity before. He should know. The 1972 earthquake that destroyed Managua was the beginning of the end of Anastasio Somoza's dictatorship. Accusations that he distributed aid to partisans and skimmed millions of dollars of donated aid stoked support for the Sandinistas. When Mr. Somoza was ousted in 1979, Mr. Ortega took command.
KING'S 'SHUT UP' IS A RINGTONE HIT
The Miami Herald
Nov. 16, 2007
Video grab taken Nov. 10, when Spain's King Juan Carlos de Borbon shouts at Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez: 'Why don't you shut up?' Chavez interrupted the speech of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero during a meeting of world leaders in Chile.
Political protest methodologies, circa 2007: King of Spain slaps down a ranting South American president on a mobile phone ringtone, edited DJ-scratch style with looping emphasis on ``shut up.''
BRAZIL EYES NUCLEAR SUB TO DEFEND OIL
The Miami Herald
Nov. 16, 2007
SAO PAULO, Brazil --
This month's discovery of a monster offshore oil reserve justifies Brazil's plan to build a nuclear submarine because it would be used to protect the find, the defense minister said.
"When you have a large natural source of wealth discovered in the Atlantic, it's obvious you need the means to protect it," Nelson Jobim said Thursday at a defense conference in Rio de Janeiro.
Jobim said Brazil must safeguard the Tupi field and its 5 billion to 8 billion barrels of oil reserves from other nations and from "actions that could come from the area of terror," the government's Agencia Brasil news service reported.
AFTER FLOOD, LONG-TERM TEST FOR MEXICO
The Christian Science Monitor
November 16, 2007
Mexico City - The floodwaters that have devastated Tabasco – at one point covering some 80 percent of the Mexican state – are finally receding.
But the challenges ahead are vast. Tens of thousands of residents remain homeless, businesses have been ruined, and almost all the state's crops, including bananas, beans, and corn, have been destroyed.
Mexican President Felipe Calderón has received praise in many corners for his quick response to what he declared one of the nation's worst natural disasters. He has visited the state a half-dozen times in the past two weeks and quickly sent in thousands of troops to help rescue the stranded and restore order. He has called for more efficient distribution of supplies and called on Mexicans not to forget the needs of an estimated 1 million people affected.
TOWN HOPES TO RECOVER FROM CHILE QUAKE
The Miami Herald
Nov. 16, 2007
QUILLAGUA, Chile --
Residents of this tiny desert town expressed hope Friday that their first visit ever by a Chilean president will spur recovery after a huge earthquake damaged dozens of homes.
Touring the region the day before, President Michelle Bachelet promised that within 15 days the most urgent housing problems would be solved in Quillagua, where about half of the hamlet's 60 homes were damaged.
"We had strong earthquakes here before," said resident Erwin Delgado. "Let's hope this time we will really be helped after her visit."
CHARGES LIKELY IN PUERTO RICO PET DEATHS
The Miami Herald
Nov. 16, 2007
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico --
A Puerto Rico prosecutor indicated criminal charges will be filed in the slaughter of dozens of dogs and cats seized last month from housing projects and allegedly thrown from a bridge - an incident that generated worldwide public outrage.
Prosecutor Kendys Pimentel said the findings of an investigation into the killings would be released within a few weeks. "We are sure that the final results ... will please the country," Pimentel told The Associated Press late Thursday.
Demands for justice increased this week after an Associated Press investigation showed inhumane animal killings have been routine in Puerto Rico for years.
CHÁVEZ POWER GRAB SETTING PRECEDENTS
The Miami Herald
Nov. 16, 2007
CARACAS --
No president in the history of Venezuela has accumulated as much power as Hugo Chávez. And if his plan to revise the constitution is approved in a Dec. 2 referendum, his control will be almost absolute.
''This much power? I don't believe anyone has ever wielded it,'' said historian and former Foreign Minister Simón Alberto Consalvi.
''Even [Juan Vicente] Gómez, the great Venezuelan dictator of the 20th century, who governed for 27 years, maintained the formalities,'' Consalvi told The Miami Herald. ``But Chávez has no respect at all for formalities.''
COLOMBIA'S URIBE SEEN AS SOLIDIFYING POWER
The Washington Post
November 17, 2007
BOGOTA, Colombia -- President ¿lvaro Uribe has overwhelming influence in many of this country's institutions and enjoys the support of 70 percent of his countrymen.
But lately, opposition leaders contend, the president has been showing little tolerance for critics at a time when his allies have accumulated broad power. Such concerns have grown as Uribe considers a constitutional change that would allow him to run for a third four-year term.
Last month, Uribe disparaged the Supreme Court just days after it launched an investigation of the president's cousin, former senator Mario Uribe, for alleged ties to paramilitary groups. Then, Uribe warned Bogota voters not to cast ballots for "mayors supported by the guerrillas," a reference to the leftist Democratic Pole party's candidate, Samuel Moreno.
CARS RUINED BY KATRINA SOLD IN BOLIVIA
The Miami Herald
Nov. 17, 2007
COCHABAMBA, Bolivia --
The bathtub ring of mold on the ceiling of Colleen McGaw's Mini Cooper marks how high Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters rose inside the sporty red coupe.
"There was this mold, this grossness all over it," McGaw says, recalling how she found the car, her college graduation present, three months after the storm submerged her New Orleans neighborhood. "I cried. It may sound lame, but I cried. I had wanted a car like that since I was a child."
Two years later, McGaw was shocked to learn from The Associated Press that her beloved Mini turned up 3,600 miles south in Bolivia. Its new owner - stuck with a complete overhaul at $23,000 and counting - is feeling her pain.
COMPARACIÓN ENTRE LA CONSTITUCIÓN CUBANA Y LA PROPUESTA DE REFORMA DE LA CONSTITUCIÓN VENEZOLANA
The Miami Herald
Nov. 17,2007
CHÁVEZ’S VISION SHARES WEALTH AND CENTERS POWER
The New York Times
November 17, 2007
CARACAS, Venezuela, Nov. 16 — In two weeks, Venezuela seems likely to start an extraordinary experiment in centralized, oil-fueled socialism. By law, the workday would be cut to six hours. Street vendors, homemakers and maids would have state-mandated pensions. And President Hugo Chávez would have significantly enhanced powers and be eligible for re-election for the rest of his life.
Supporters of President Hugo Chávez hand out flyers encouraging people to vote in favor of the referendum.
AFTER THE CAUDILLO
The New York Times
November 18, 2007
Bona fide examples of poetic justice in politics, where the innocent are vindicated and the wicked get their just deserts, are about as rare in real life as they have been commonplace in popular culture, dating at least as far back as “The Count of Monte Cristo.” And yet to the extent that such things do occur, the political triumph of Michelle Bachelet, the current president of Chile — and the first woman in South America who can be said to have earned the title on her own merits — has been just such an event. The woman who was, as a 23-year-old medical student, briefly imprisoned along with her mother by the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet and whose father, Air Force Gen. Alberto Bachelet, was tortured and died in military custody in 1974, is now Chile’s chief of state — while the dictator died, his reputation in tatters, shortly after she took office.
HAPPY DAYS The future president backed up by her brother, mother and father in Santiago in 1961.
MEXICANS ASK WHERE FLOOD AID WENT
The Washington Post
November 19, 2007
MEXICO CITY -- Long before the devastating flooding this month in the state of Tabasco, Mexico's behemoth state-run oil company, Petróleos Mexicanos, was pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into local government coffers for flood abatement projects.
From 1997 to 2001, at least $3 million was donated to build dikes, raise levees and move poor residents from low-lying areas, according to analysts and independent investigators. But a crescendo of questions about whether the oil money was ever used for the intended projects is raising the possibility that corruption and incompetence might have played as much of a role in the tragedy as historically torrential rains.
CASTROS HONOR REVOLUTIONARY COMRADE DEL VALLE
The Miami Herald
Nov. 19, 2007
HAVANA --
(AP) -- The Castro brothers paid homage to fallen revolutionary comrade Sergio del Valle Jimenez on Saturday, with Fidel recalling his help during the Bay of Pigs invasion and Raúl attending his military funeral.
''We have lived exceptional times,'' President Fidel Castro wrote in an essay carried in state media. ``Your lessons and your example will endure.''
Raúl Castro, Cuba's defense minister and interim leader since his brother stepped aside because of illness in mid-2006, attended Gen. Del Valle's interment at Havana's Colon Cemetery.
CHANGES PROPOSED BY CHÁVEZ
The Miami Herald
Nov. 19, 2007
Following are some of the key changes to the Venezuelan constitution proposed by President Hugo Chávez;
* Allow unlimited presidential re-election and extend the term in office from six to seven years. Under the current Constitution, Chávez is barred from reelection when his current six-year term expires in 2012.
* Allow the suspension of the right to information and some parts of due process during states of emergency declared by the president, for indefinite periods of time.
* Lower the voting age from 18 to 16.
AS PROPOSED:
'PARITY VOTE' FOR WORKERS IN UNIVERSITY ELECTIONS
The Miami Herald
Nov. 19, 2007
Text of the proposed changes to the Venezuelan Constitution that would grant university workers a vote equal to that of professors and students in the election of university administrators. This "parity vote" is opposed by many educators and students. Translation is by The Miami Herald; words [in brackets] are the translator's clarifications.
23rd [AMENDMENT]: Article 109 is amended as follows:
Article 109. The State recognizes university autonomy as a principle and hierarchy that allows professors, students and graduates from its community to devote themselves to the search for knowledge through scientific, humanistic and technological research, for the Nation's spiritual and material benefit.
AS PROPOSED:
POLICE POWERS AND STATES OF EMERGENCY
The Miami Herald
Nov. 19, 2007
Text of the proposed changes to the Venezuelan Constitution that grant police powers to the Armed Forces, define states of emergency and authorize the restriction or suspension of Constitutional guarantees under certain conditions. Translation is by The Miami Herald.
73rd [AMENDMENT]: Article 329 is amended as follows:
Article 329. The Bolivarian Armed Forces are integrated by the different corps of land, sea and air, organized in accordance with the corresponding organic law into the following military components: the Bolivarian National Army, the Bolivarian National Navy, the Bolivarian National Air Force, the Bolivarian National Guard and the Bolivarian National Militia; with a special regime of career, education and discipline; protected by a Social Security System of their own, according to their respective organic laws.
AS PROPOSED:
A LONGER PRESIDENTIAL TERM AND BROADER POWERS
The Miami Herald
Nov. 19, 2007
Text of the proposed changes to the Venezuelan Constitution that would end the two-term limit for president, extend his term from six to seven years and grant him additional powers. Under the current Constitution, Chávez is barred from reelection when his current six-year term expires in 2012. Translation is by The Miami Herald; words [in brackets] are the translator's clarifications.
47TH [AMENDMENT]: Article 230 is amended as follows:
Article 230. The presidential term is seven years. The President of the Republic may be reelected.
48th [AMENDMENT]: Article 236 is amended as follows:
Article 236. The attributions and obligations of the President of the Republic are:
1. To comply with and enforce this Constitution and the law.
2. To direct the actions of the State and Government, and to coordinate relations with the other National Public Powers, in his role as Head of State.
CHÁVEZ RETURNS TO IRAN FOR VISIT
The Miami Herald
Nov. 19, 2007
TEHRAN, Iran (AP)-- Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez made his fourth trip to Iran in two years on Monday, state media reported, as the two countries sought to strengthen ties while their leaders exhort the international community to resist U.S. policies.
Chávez, who arrived in Tehran from Saudi Arabia where he attended the weekend's OPEC summit, is expected to discuss various political and economic issues with his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
Chávez was accompanied by a string of top Venezuelan officials for the hourslong visit, including the foreign, industry, oil and communication ministers, as well as the mayor of Caracas, the country's capital.
VENEZUELA MILITARY SHOWS UNEASE WITH CHÁVEZ
The Miami Herald
Nov. 19, 2007
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's push to radicalize his leftist ''Bolivarian revolution'' has sparked growing unease in segments of the armed forces, only partially reflected in the recent complaints by a former defense minister, military officers and analysts say.
The observers added junior officers are undisciplined, that there is a profusion of pamphlets criticizing Chávez circulating in military garrisons and resistance by some officers to carry out presidential orders and that there are complaints of corruption among senior officers loyal to Chávez.
BRAZIL DISCOVERS AN OIL FIELD CAN BE A POLITICAL TOOL
The New York Times
November 19, 2007
RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 17 — With the price of oil hovering near $100 a barrel, the discovery of the biggest deep-water oil field off the southeastern coast has the potential to transform Brazil into a global energy powerhouse and to reshape the politics of this energy-starved continent.
While Brazil’s state oil company, Petrobras, has known of the field for more than a year, it only finished assessing its full potential in recent months. It announced on Nov. 8 that the field held some five billion to eight billion barrels of crude oil and natural gas.
The announcement has everyone in the region, and beyond, taking notice. A field that size — the biggest in the world since a discovery in Kazakhstan in 2000 — is a potential political game-changer for Brazil.
GEN. SERGIO DEL VALLE, A CUBAN DOCTOR AND SOLDIER, IS DEAD
The New York Times
November 19, 2007
HAVANA, Nov. 16 (AP) — Gen. Sergio del Valle Jiménez, a doctor in Fidel Castro’s rebel army in the late 1950s and the army chief of staff during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, died Thursday, the state media reported.
A short article in the Communist Party newspaper Granma on Friday did not give a cause for General del Valle’s death or say how old he was, but he was at least in his 70s. Information on survivors was also not available.
General del Valle joined Mr. Castro’s revolution against the dictator Fulgencio Batista through a Havana underground movement in the mid-1950s. He entered the rebel army as a doctor and soldier fighting against Batista’s troops in eastern Cuba in 1957.
CHILD MATADORS DRAW OLÉS IN MEXICO’S BULLRINGS
The New York Times
November 19, 2007
MÉRIDA, Mexico — Michelito Lagravere Peniche, 9, put his fingers to his head to create mock horns and charged at Jairo Miguel, 14, who gracefully dodged him on the first pass. But Michelito was an aggressive bull and he circled back, this time striking his friend Jairo in the leg. Both boys erupted in laughter.
The first bullfight of the season in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula was rained out, which is why two of Mexico’s youngest bullfighters, disappointed to not be confronting real bulls, found themselves playing in the middle of the Plaza of Mérida after most of the spectators had gone.
VENEZUELANS STRUGGLE TO FIND FOOD
The Miami Herald
Nov. 20, 2007
CARACAS, Venezuela --
The lines formed at dawn and remained long throughout the day - hundreds upon hundreds of Venezuelans waiting to buy scarce milk, chicken and sugar at state-run outdoor markets staffed by soldiers in fatigues.
President Hugo Chavez's government is trying to cope with shortages of some foods, and the lines at state-run "Megamercal" street markets show many Venezuelans are willing to wait for hours to snap up a handful of products they seldom find in supermarkets.
BRAZIL DOLES OUT 'MORNING AFTER' PILLS
The Christian Science Monitor
November 20, 2007
São Paulo, Brazil - As part of a new fight against Brazil's sky-high number of unwanted pregnancies and illegal abortions, the country's most populous state is offering "morning after" contraceptive pills at metro stops and 90 percent off contraceptive pills at pharmacies.
And that's not all. Federal Health officials are offering to train teachers to give sex education and offering condoms to pupils. And the Health Ministry wants men to take more responsibility and is offering free vasectomies.
POLLS: SUPPORT FOR CHÁVEZ PROPOSALS ON THE DECLINE
The Miami Herald
Nov. 20, 2007
Support for Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's controversial proposals for constitutional reforms appears to be dropping as the Dec. 2 referendum on the changes approaches, according to recent polls.
At the same time, the number of voters who say they will abstain has been showing a steady decline over the past two months, a swing that would favor the no vote, according to analysts.
ADOPTION CHANGES WRENCH AMERICAN PARENTS
The Miami Herald
Nov. 20, 2007
GUATEMALA CITY --
Jeff and Diana Kerr fell in love with the Guatemalan baby girl the moment they saw her photograph. The Minnesota couple decorated her pink and white nursery with pictures of flowers and butterflies, but now they don't know if the 8-month-old will ever become their daughter.
The Kerrs are among thousands of Americans trying to adopt 3,700 babies who are caught in limbo as Guatemala's lawmakers debate new rules that could all but shut down a largely unregulated system that has become the speediest place in the world to finalize an adoption.
CRITICAL CUBAN ELECTIONS IN JANUARY
The Miami Herald
Nov. 20, 2007
HAVANA --
Cuba announced Tuesday it has set Jan. 20 for national elections that are part of the process of determining whether ailing leader Fidel Castro continues as president.
The ruling, signed by interim leader Raul Castro and read on state television, set the date for elections to provincial and national assemblies - voting that is held every five years.
There was no explicit mention of Fidel Castro, but the 81-year-old leader of the Cuban Revolution must be re-elected to the national parliament before he could repeat as president of the Council of State to remain in full power.
MEXICO ENDS SEARCH FOR 9 IN LANDSLIDE
The Miami Herald
Nov. 21, 2007
SAN JUAN GRIJALVA, Mexico --
Mexican authorities said Tuesday they have called off the search for the bodies of nine people still missing after a mudslide swept away an entire village in southern Chiapas state.
The army, navy and state police have already recovered the bodies of 15 residents of San Juan Grijalva, where torrential rains caused a hillside to collapse into a river Nov. 4, unleashing a giant wave of water that destroyed the hamlet.
CHARGES OF ‘TRAITOR’ FOR CHÁVEZ ALLY TURNED CRITIC
The New York Times
November 21, 2007
CARACAS, Venezuela, Nov. 18 — For years before rising to power here, President Hugo Chávez conspired alongside Raúl Isaías Baduel, who recently retired as army commander, in a secretive cell of leftist military officers intent on fomenting revolution. It was General Baduel who led the paratrooper raid that returned Mr. Chávez to office after he was briefly deposed by a coup in 2002.
But those impeccable leftist credentials have not spared the general from withering attacks since he broke with Mr. Chávez this month over proposed sweeping changes to the Constitution that, among other things, would abolish presidential term limits. At a recent political rally here, the president’s supporters called General Baduel a “traitor” and shouted for him to be taken to the “paredón,” the execution wall.
|
![[ space ]](home/relleno.gif){kind=small}
![[ space ]](home/img_sub_flacso.gif)