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POLLS: SUPPORT FOR CHÁVEZ PROPOSALS ON THE DECLINE
The Miami Herald
Nov. 21, 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.
Chávez's opponents have split over whether to abstain from a referendum they consider illegal and perhaps even subject to fraud, or turn out to vote and risk legitimizing the tally if the reforms are approved.
While public opinion surveys in Venezuela often have been challenged as politically biased, the latest polls may give Chávez a measure of concern.
VENEZUELANS MARCH TO BACK CHAVEZ REFORMS
The Miami Herald
Nov. 21, 2007
CARACAS, Venezuela --
Tens of thousands of President Hugo Chavez's supporters filled the streets Wednesday to back his proposed constitutional changes, while anti-government student leaders announced a bold plan to march on the presidential palace.
The demonstrations have grown as a Dec. 2 referendum nears on reforms that, among other changes, would let Chavez run for re-election indefinitely, create new types of property to managed by cooperatives and lengthen presidential terms from six to seven years.
The sea of red-clad demonstrators, including students and other government supporters, marched to the Miraflores presidential palace to show their support for the constitutional overhaul, beating drums, waving flags and blowing whistles.
VENEZUELA MILITARY SHOWS UNEASE WITH CHÁVEZ
The Miami Herald
Nov. 21, 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.
SILVA'S CONGRESSIONAL LIAISON TO RESIGN
The Miami Herald
Nov. 22, 2007
SAO PAULO, Brazil --
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's top congressional liaison is resigning because of a federal probe into a campaign finance scheme, the president's office said Thursday.
Walfrido dos Mares Guia decided to submit his resignation after federal prosecutors announced they had asked the Supreme Court to charge Mares Guia and other 14 people with embezzlement and money laundering in connection with a 1998 gubernatorial election campaign in Minas Gerais state.
Mares Guia and the candidate, Eduardo Azeredo, have denied participation in any illegal fundraising activity.
MEXICO DID LITTLE TO READY FOR FLOODING
The Miami Herald
Nov. 22, 2007
VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico --
The government knew Mexico's Gulf coast was a disaster in waiting long before three rivers surged out of their banks, flooding nearly every inch of the low-lying state of Tabasco and leaving more than 1 million homes under water.
But officials admit they never finished a $190 million levee project that was supposed to have been done by 2006 and would have held back much of the rising waters that flooded Tabasco at the end of October.
The tragedy was reminiscent of the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005, when levees failed and swamped much of New Orleans, forcing people to flee by wading through dirty waters. In Tabasco, days of relentless rain - not a hurricane - were to blame.
MEXICO CITY CATHEDRAL TO REOPEN SATURDAY
The Miami Herald
Nov. 23, 2007
MEXICO CITY --
Church officials said Mexico City's world-renowned cathedral will reopen Saturday, six days after more than 100 protesters barged into the cavernous building and interrupted Sunday Mass.
A new city plan to guarantee the cathedral's security persuaded church leaders to reopen the religious landmark, the Archdiocese of Mexico said in a statement.
"We trust that there won't be any more acts that put people at risk and desecrate the sacred grounds of the metropolitan cathedral," it said.
EARLY CLIMATE CHANGE VICTIM: ANDES WATER
The Miami Herald
Nov. 23, 2007
EL ALTO, Bolivia --
Twice a day, Elena Quispe draws water from a spigot on the dusty fringe of this city, fills three grimy plastic containers and pushes them in a rickety wheelbarrow to the adobe home she shares with her husband and eight children.
But the water supply is in peril. El Alto and its sister city of La Paz, the world's highest capital, depend on glaciers for at least a third of their water - more than any other urban sprawl. And those glaciers are rapidly melting because of global warming.
COLOMBIAN HOSTAGES' FAMILIES FEAR FUTURE
The Miami Herald
Nov. 23, 2007
BOGOTA, Colombia --
Families of dozens of rebel-held hostages struggled with shock and grief following the Colombian government's decision to end Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's mediation with leftist guerrillas, seen by many as the best hope for freeing the prisoners.
About 50 people whose loved ones are being held by Colombian rebels gathered near the presidential palace in Bogota's Bolivar Plaza on Thursday to protest President Alvaro Uribe's earlier announcement.
CHÁVEZ DEFENDS REFORMS, BUT BUSINESS LEADERS AREN'T SO SURE
The Miami Herald
Nov. 23, 2007
CARACAS --
President Hugo Chávez insisted his pending constitutional revisions pose no risk to private property, trying to counter critics who warn his government intends to increase seizures of buildings, lands and businesses.
If approved in a referendum Dec. 2, the reforms would enshrine socialist ideology in Venezuela's constitution and create a new class of collective property to be managed by communities and worker cooperatives.
Chávez said in a speech Thursday night that Venezuelans should not be afraid of the changes.
CHAVEZ: NO RISK TO PRIVATE PROPERTY
The Miami Herald
Nov. 23, 2007
CARACAS, Venezuela --
President Hugo Chavez insisted his pending constitutional revisions pose no risk to private property, trying to counter critics who warn his government intends to increase seizures of buildings, lands and businesses.
If approved in a referendum Dec. 2, the reforms would enshrine socialist ideology in Venezuela's constitution and create a new class of collective property to be managed by communities and worker cooperatives.
Chavez said in a speech Thursday night that Venezuelans should not be afraid of the changes.
CHAVEZ: ONLY A 'TRAITOR' WILL VOTE NO
The Miami Herald
Nov. 23, 2007
CARACAS, Venezuela --
President Hugo Chavez warned his supporters on Friday that anyone voting against his proposed constitutional changes would be a "traitor," rallying his political base before a referendum that would let him seek unlimited re-election in 2012 and beyond.
Brandishing a little red book listing his desired 69 revisions to Venezuela's charter, Chavez exhorted his backers to redouble their efforts toward a victorious "yes" vote in the Dec. 2 ballot.
"He who says he supports Chavez but votes 'no' is a traitor, a true traitor," the president told an arena packed with red-clad supporters. "He's against me, against the revolution and against the people."
MISSING TEEN'S FATHER TO SEARCH FOR BODY
The Miami Herald
Nov. 23, 2007
ORANJESTAD, Aruba --
The father of missing American teenager Natalee Holloway will relaunch a search for evidence of her remains in waters off Aruba, he said Thursday after police re-arrested three suspects in her 2005 disappearance.
While authorities searched the sea to depths of 330 feet, Dave Holloway told The Associated Press that he believes his 18-year-old daughter was thrown into deeper waters - a belief based on talks with a police official and a private forensic expert.
Holloway said a private boat owner is providing divers, sonar equipment and the ability to map the ocean floor.
CRUISE SHIP EVACUATED OFF ANTARCTICA
The Miami Herald
Nov. 24, 2007
SANTIAGO, Chile --
A small Canadian cruise ship carrying passengers who shelled out thousands of dollars to retrace the route of a 20th century explorer struck an iceberg and sank hours later in icy waters off Antarctica. All 154 aboard, Americans among them, escaped safely.
The passengers were waiting out bad weather Saturday at a remote Chilean military base before they can be airlifted to the South American mainland.
BOLIVIAN TROOPS, STUDENTS CLASH; 1 DEAD
The Miami Herald
Nov. 24, 2007
SUCRE, Bolivia --
Soldiers clashed with students protesting Bolivia's constitutional assembly on Saturday, leaving one student dead in a second day of unrest against the pending legal overhaul.
University student Gonzalo Duran was shot dead during disturbances in the southern city of Sucre, said Marcelo Carvajal, head of emergency medicine at the city's Santa Barbara hospital. Another student was hospitalized with serious gunshot wounds, he told The Associated Press.
SEX SAID FORCED ON JAILED BRAZIL GIRL
The Miami Herald
Nov. 24, 2007
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil --
A teenage girl was locked up on theft charges in an Amazon jail for weeks with 21 men who she said would only let her eat in return for sex, according to authorities, setting off a national scandal over the treatment of women by Brazil's justice system.
The 15-year-old said she was required to have sex with at least two inmates, police spokesman Walrimar Santos said by telephone Thursday from Belem, at the mouth of the Amazon River, where the victim was transferred after nearly a month living with male inmates.
JUDGES ORDERS HOLLOWAY SUSPECTS HELD
The Miami Herald
Nov. 24, 2007
ORANJESTAD, Aruba --
A judge Friday ordered an extended detention of two brothers held in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway after reviewing new evidence in the case of the missing teenager.
Surinamese brothers Satish and Deepak Kalpoe will be detained in separate jails for at least another eight days while prosecutors continue to pursue the investigation. The brothers have been held since Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in Holloway's death.
A third suspect, Joran van der Sloot, was expected to arrive in Aruba on Friday, a day after a judge in the Netherlands approved his arrest and transfer, the prosecutor's office said.
POLL: CHAVEZ'S CHARTER CHANGES OPPOSED
The Miami Herald
Nov. 24, 2007
CARACAS, Venezuela --
An independent poll released Saturday showed voters balking at President Hugo Chavez's proposed changes to the constitution ahead of a referendum next weekend.
The survey, published in the Venezuelan newspaper El Universal, found about 49 percent of likely voters oppose the reforms while 39 percent favor. The poll was conducted by the Caracas polling firm Datanalisis, which has consistently predicted Chavez's victories in past elections.
"Chavez has never gone into an election without an overwhelming majority from the beginning," Datanalisis pollster Luis Vicente Leon told The Associated Press. "I was surprised when I saw the numbers. ... This is the first time it's reversed."
ICY RESCUE AS SEAS CLAIM A CRUISE SHIP
The New York Times
November 24, 2007
They were modern adventure travelers, following the doomed route of Sir Ernest Shackleton to the frozen ends of the earth. They paid $7,000 to $16,000 to cruise on a ship that had proudly plowed the Antarctic for 40 years.
The cruise ship Explorer seen from the National Geographic Endeavour, a small research vessel that was nearby.
The Explorer sent out a distress signal after it began to take in water, a spokesman for the ship's owner said.
CHÁVEZ CHANGES BODE ILL FOR ECONOMY
The Miami Herald
Nov. 25, 2007
The constitutional reforms proposed by President Hugo Chávez will have a strong impact on Venezuela's economy and finances if approved in a Dec. 2 referendum, analysts say.
Many of the 69 proposed reforms deal directly with economic issues, such as abolishing the Central Bank's autonomy and giving the leftist Chávez the power to essentially set interest rates.
One of the main impacts will be to further increase government spending, which already stands at unprecedented levels because of its gusher of oil dollars and has catapulted inflation to the highest in Latin America, economists and financial analysts told El Nuevo Herald.
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
BRAZIL'S OIL: NEW WEALTH OR PETRO-POPULISM?
The Miami Herald
Nov. 25, 2007
No wonder that Brazil's president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, proclaimed ''God is Brazilian'' after the discovery of massive oil reserves in his country earlier this month: The find could soon turn Brazil into a major oil exporter, and a big player in world affairs.
But before I tell you why the find could also threaten to derail Brazil's slow but steady march into a successful economy, let's look at the facts.
On Nov. 8, Brazil's state-controlled oil firm Petrobras confirmed the finding of huge oil reserves that could hold up to eight billion barrels of light crude in the Tupi fields, off Brazil's southeastern coast. Some experts say that Brazil's oil officials usually downplay the size of the country's oil findings, and the new reserves could be up to 10 billion barrels.
FOREIGN OBSERVERS WON'T MONITOR VOTING
The Miami Herald
Nov. 25, 2007
CARACAS --
Relations between Venezuela's electoral authority and observer missions from the Organization of American States and the European Union have not always been cordial. On occasion, they have been downright frosty.
But when it comes to next Sunday's referendum on constitutional revisions, that's not going to be a problem -- because observers from the OAS and EU have not been invited and will not be monitoring the voting.
The Atlanta-based Carter Center, which also has played an important observer role in previous Venezuelan elections, will have a presence, but its work will be confined to monitoring the news media, not the voting.
DOOMED SHIP DEFIES ANTARCTICA ODDS
The Miami Herald
Nov. 25, 2007
PUNTA ARENAS, Chile --
A rare calm in Antarctic seas and the swift response by a passing ship helped save all aboard a Canadian cruise liner that struck an iceberg in the night and sank, rescued passengers and experienced sailors said Saturday.
The MS Explorer, a Canadian-operated cruiser built in 1969 as a pioneer among rugged go-anywhere tourist ships that plied waters from the Amazon to the Arctic and Antarctic circles, struck ice Friday, took on water and dipped beneath the waves more than 15 hours later.
TURNOUT OF ANTI-CHÁVEZ VOTERS IS QUESTIONABLE
The Miami Herald
Nov. 25, 2007
CARACAS --
The fate of President Hugo Chávez's drive to institutionalize his ''socialist revolution'' in Venezuela appears to depend on whether voters like Mohamad Merhi turn out next Sunday for a referendum on amending the constitution.
Merhi, a 55-year-old urban planner, believes that Chávez uses the state's power to punish enemies and will become even more dangerous if the changes are approved. But he and many other opponents plan to stay home because they believe that Chávez will resort to fraud to win, if necessary, and that voting would only legitimize his victory.
''I'm not criticizing those who will vote no, but they are only helping Chávez,'' Merhi said.
DUTCH WOMAN JOINS GUERRILLAS IN COLOMBIA
The Miami Herald
Nov. 25, 2007
BOGOTA, Colombia --
The army stumbled on the handwritten diary during a raid on a guerrilla camp. It lay near the embers of a communal kitchen where fleeing rebels left their breakfast untouched.
"I'm tired, tired of the FARC, tired of the people, tired of communal living. Tired of never having anything for myself," wrote the author, a 29-year-old Dutch woman.
Colombia's government couldn't have hoped for better propaganda against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. It leaked excerpts from the diary found last June to the media, even making available an English translation of the Dutch entries.
DUTCH GUERRILLA'S DIARY EXCERPTS
The Miami Herald
Nov. 25, 2007
Translated excerpts provided by Colombia's government from the captured diary of a Dutch woman who became a rebel fighter with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia:
-Aug. 23, 2006: I called home - without permission ... It was marvelous to hear their voices. Mom and dad both cried. Now all I can do is await my punishment, but everyone is allowed to make calls except me. Isn't it ridiculous? Perhaps they'll keep me in the jungle forever and not let me leave to go on missions because of this little sin.
VENEZUELA'S CHAVEZ FACES TOUGHEST VOTE TEST
The Washington Post
November 26, 2007
CARACAS (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez faces his toughest vote to date this weekend in a referendum to scrap term limits on his rule as polls show Venezuelans shying away from the Cuba ally's drive for socialism in the OPEC nation.
Accustomed to easy election victories, Chavez enters the referendum vote on Sunday with surveys showing his lead eroding, dissent growing from ex-allies and diplomatic disputes intensifying with Spain and Colombia.
A man was shot dead on Monday as he tried to drive his truck through an area blocked by demonstrators protesting Chavez's raft of constitutional changes, the military said.
MEXICO FUNDS WILL PROTECT BUTTERFLIES
The Miami Herald
Nov. 26, 2007
CERRO PRIETO, Mexico --
President Felipe Calderon unveiled a sweeping plan Sunday to curb logging and protect millions of monarch butterflies that migrate to the mountains of central Mexico each winter, covering trees and bushes and attracting visitors from around the world.
The plan will put $4.6 million toward additional equipment and advertising for the existing Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, covering a 124,000-acre swathe of trees and mountains that for thousands of years has served as the winter nesting ground to millions of orange- and black-winged monarch butterflies.
Calderon said it would help boost tourism and support the economy in an impoverished area where illegal logging runs rampant.
MISGIVINGS RISE ALONG WITH ANTARCTICAN TOURISM
The New York Times
November 26, 2007
OTTAWA, Nov. 25 — From its beginning until its demise, the Explorer was an Antarctic pioneer. Launched in 1969 under the name Lindblad Explorer, it was the first ship built specifically to ferry tourists to Antarctica. When it disappeared beneath the polar region’s waters last week, it became the first commercial passenger ship to sink there.
The Explorer sank about 600 miles from South America.
INVESTMENT PROPELS A REAL ESTATE BOOM FOR PANAMA
The Christian Science Monitor
November 26, 2007
Panama City - The hilltop view overlooking the former Howard US Air Force Base in Panama says it all.
The vacant barracks will be the site of a $10 billion minicity slated to be the size of Central London. Just beyond the hills, the Panama Canal is undergoing a $5 billion expansion, and in the background cranes hang over new skyscrapers that seem to rise every week.
Panama, it seems, is in its prime.
ANTARCTICA SHIP SURVIVORS AIRLIFTED OUT
The Washington Post
November 26, 2007
PUNTA ARENAS, Chile -- The last group of survivors from the Antarctic cruise ship that struck an iceberg and slipped into the icy sea were flown back to the South American mainland Sunday.
A Chilean military transport plane ferried the final 77 of the 154 passengers and crew to Punta Arenas, Chile's southernmost city and a jumping-off point for Antarctica travel. All had been rescued from the sinking MS Explorer on Friday.
TOURISM BOOM THREATENS ANTARCTICA
The Miami Herald
Nov. 26, 2007
PUNTA ARENAS, Chile --
A cruise ship takes on water in the Antarctic and three more come quickly to the rescue: A blessing for the survivors, to be sure. But also an indication of a tourism boom that critics say threatens Antarctica's environment and puts passengers at risk.
The 154 passengers and crew of the MS Explorer were all plucked safely from life rafts this weekend by a Norwegian cruise ship as their own vessel slid into the icy seas.
Tourism in the world's southernmost continent has spiked in popularity, but there is little regulation of the lucrative industry. Now giant cruise ships have begun to arrive, and some experts fear catastrophic accidents and environmental damage.
VENEZUELAN KILLED DURING REFERENDUM PROTESTS
The Miami Herald
Nov. 26, 2007
CARACAS --
A man was shot and killed as he tried to press through a street blocked by anti-government protesters Monday, Venezuela's vice president said.
Vice President Jorge Rodríguez said protesters shot the 19-year-old man in Valencia during one of many demonstrations across the country ahead of a Sunday referendum on constitutional amendments that President Hugo Chávez says will help bring socialism to Venezuela.
Rodriguez said that 80 people were detained in the protests, though he did not describe the circumstances.
VENEZUELAN STUDENTS RALLY AGAINST CHAVEZ
The Miami Herald
Nov. 27, 2007
CARACAS, Venezuela --
Hundreds of students staged a protest in Caracas Tuesday to campaign for a no vote in a referendum scheduled Sunday by President Hugo Chavez.
About 300 students gathered outside the Catholic University Andres Bello in the capital, occupying a major highway that runs through the west of the capital. The four hour protest, which was adorned with placards attacking the referendum, caused huge traffic jams forcing rush-hour drivers to wait it out.
"We students will keep coming out on to the street to demand freedom and democracy," said Roberto Diaz, a 21-year old law student at the university.
VENEZUELA'S FUTURE IN THE BALANCE
OUR OPINION: SUNDAY VOTE CRITICAL TO CIVIL RIGHTS, ECONOMIC PROSPECTS
Opinion
The Miami Herald
Nov. 27, 2007
Venezuelans will have a choice on Sunday: Vote No to stop President Hugo Chávez from assuming absolute power -- or accept the sweeping loss of political and economic rights that a new constitution will bring. Fortunately, a student movement has galvanized the opposition. Still, voters will have to show up in large numbers to stop the power grab.
No term limits?
Proposed constitutional changes would remove presidential term limits that now end Mr. Chavez's rule in 2012. They would grant the president power to decree limitless states of emergency, during which Mr. Chávez could suspend freedom of speech and detain people without charges. Other provisions would allow him to easily expropriate private property, control local governments and unleash an ''anti-imperialist'' military on ideological missions.
RESCUERS HUNT FOR ECUADOR MINE SURVIVORS
The Miami Herald
Nov. 27, 2007
QUITO, Ecuador --
Rescuers struggled Tuesday to find survivors from a gold mine explosion that killed at least one miner and injured about 40 more in southern Ecuador.
Interior Minister Gustavo Larrea said Monday night that about 60 miners were trapped after the blast in the village of Ponce Enriquez, 230 miles southwest of Quito.
But police officer Manuel Cueva, speaking by telephone from Ponce Enriquez, said Tuesday that it was still not clear if any miners were trapped in the tunnels.
EX-MINISTERS CONVICTED IN PERU 'COUP'
The Miami Herald
Nov. 27, 2007
LIMA, Peru --
Former Peruvian Interior Minister Juan Briones Davila has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for helping disgraced President Alberto Fujimori
send tanks to shut down Congress and Peru's judiciary in 1992.
Nine other ministers who served Fujimori were given four-year suspended sentences in the decision by a panel of Supreme Court justices announced late Monday.
Davila got the stiffest sentence because the judges ruled he played a major role in planning and carrying out the so-called "self-coup" by Fujimori, who went on to rewrite the nation's constitution and oversee the election of a legislature stacked with his supporters.
BRAZILIAN BISHOP ON HUNGER STRIKE AGAIN
The Miami Herald
Nov. 27, 2007
SAO PAULO, Brazil --
A Catholic bishop on Tuesday began his second hunger strike in two years to protest a government project to divert river water to irrigate parts of the country's arid northeast.
Bishop Luiz Flavio Cappio sent a letter to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva saying he was protesting the government's failure to hold promised public debates and discussions on the project.
Those promises persuaded Cappio to end his first, 11-day hunger strike in 2005, when he protested plans to change the course of the Sao Francisco River that winds through the Brazil's drought-ridden northeast to the Atlantic.
60 MINERS TRAPPED IN ECUADOR
The New York Times
November 27, 2007
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) -- Rescuers struggled Tuesday to find survivors from a gold mine explosion that killed at least one miner and injured about 40 more in southern Ecuador.
Interior Minister Gustavo Larrea said Monday night that about 60 miners were trapped after the blast in the village of Ponce Enriquez, 230 miles southwest of Quito.
But police officer Manuel Cueva, speaking by telephone from Ponce Enriquez, said Tuesday that it was still not clear if any miners were trapped in the tunnels.
PEMEX BEGINS DISMANTLING DAMAGED OIL RIG
The Miami Herald
Nov. 27, 2007
MEXICO CITY --
Mexico's state-run oil company has begun dismantling a damaged oil drilling rig off the Gulf coast because heat from near-constant fires have made the structure unstable.
In a statement released Monday, Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said engineers successfully removed the rig's tower. The company hopes the action will help workers extinguish a raging fire as well as oil and gas leaks that have continued since the Oct. 23 accident that killed at least 21 workers.
The accident was caused by high waves that hit the rig, sending a boom crashing into an oil platform's valve assembly.
ACTIVISTS SEEK INDEPENDENT CUBA COLLEGES
The Miami Herald
Nov. 27, 2007
HAVANA --
A group of Cuban students and young professionals said Tuesday it has collected 5,000 signatures petitioning the government to allow universities that would operate independently of the state while encouraging freedom of speech.
Supporters of the University Students Without Borders Project want Cuba's communist government to tolerate autonomous colleges and also reopen Havana's Catholic University of Santo Tomas de Villanueva, which authorities shuttered in 1961, two years after Fidel Castro's revolution toppled dictator Fulgencio Batista.
MANY ANTI-CHÁVEZ EXPATRIATES WON'T VOTE
The Miami Herald
Nov. 27, 2007
Venezuelan expatriates living in South Florida, many of whom left as President Hugo Chávez rose to power a decade ago, are keeping a wary eye on their homeland as a sweeping referendum to overhaul the constitution draws near. Although they, too, can cast votes, many plan to boycott.
Local activist groups, which in previous years have mobilized get-out-the-vote efforts, met last week to plot their strategy. They are urging fellow expats to stay home -- saying Chávez's proposed changes are illegal and the electoral process hopelessly compromised.
The proposed changes would, among other things, end term limits for the presidency -- a move expatriates say would allow Chávez to hold that office for life, likening him to his mentor and political ally, Cuba's Fidel Castro.
NAZI HUNT ANNOUNCED IN ARGENTINA
The Miami Herald
Nov. 27, 2007
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina --
A Jewish human rights group launched a "last chance" hunt for surviving Nazis in South America on Tuesday, hoping to track down perpetrators of genocide before they die of old age.
"The passage of time in no way diminishes the guilt of the perpetrators," said Efraim Zuroff, director of the Israeli Simon Wiesenthal Center as he announced the campaign.
The No. 2 Nazi on the center's most-wanted list is Dr. Aribert Heim, who is believed to be in either Chile or Argentina, Zuroff said. "The whole program would be worth it just if we found Heim."
CHÁVEZ'S 'SOCIALIST CITY' RISES
The Washington Post
November 27, 2007
CAMINO DE LOS INDIOS, Venezuela -- Like most ambitious state projects in oil-rich Venezuela, the new city being built in the thickly wooded mountains here began as a whim of President Hugo Chávez's.
Flying in his helicopter north of Caracas over forests filled with monkeys and tropical birds, the president suddenly had a eureka moment -- he would carve a self-sustaining, self-contained city from the wilderness. Chávez envisioned this as the first of several utopian cities, a bold plan reflecting both Venezuela's capacity for undertaking ambitious projects and the president's growing propensity for making all major decisions.
"He told me, 'I want to see if it's possible,' " recalled Ramón Carrizales, minister of housing. "So we began to explore it, and we found vast tracts that could be utilized."
CHÁVEZ'S EX-WIFE ATTACKS REFORMS
The Miami Herald
Nov. 28, 2007
CARACAS --
President Hugo Chávez took fire from one of his two ex-wives who urged Venezuelans to reject the slate of proposed constitutional changes that would greatly expand executive power.
Urging Venezuelans to vote ''no'' in Sunday's referendum on the changes to the nation's charter, Maria Isabel Rodriguez compared approving the referendum to a ``leap into the dark.'
CHAVEZ VOWS REFERENDUM 'CANNOT FAIL'
The Miami Herald
Nov. 28, 2007
CARACAS, Venezuela --
Rallies for and against constitutional changes proposed by President Hugo Chavez surged Tuesday as the Venezuelan leader declared that a weekend referendum on the proposed charter "cannot fail."
Such gatherings have increased tensions ahead of Sunday's referendum on reforms that would allow Chavez indefinite re-election, increase presidential terms from six to seven years and help the Venezuelan leader establish socialism in Venezuela.
While Chavez appeared before supporters to urge Venezuelans to approve the referendum and "open the path to a new nation," opponents held at least two protests and one of his ex-wives even held a press conference to urge voters to reject the slate of changes.
CUBA MAKES AN ECONOMIC ASCENT
The Miami Herald
Nov. 28, 2007
HAVANA --
(AP) -- Cuba's economy should grow by 10 percent in 2007, the third straight year of double-digit expansion, despite slips in the tourism sector, according to Economy Minister José Luis Rodríguez.
Speaking at a meeting of economists, Rodríguez said gross domestic product on the communist-run island would rise by 10 percent this year, reiterating a prediction he made in February.
THE YOUTH OF VENEZUELA RISE UP
The Christian Science Monitor
November 28, 2007
A Dec. 2 referendum in Venezuela that would grant extreme powers to Hugo Chávez isn't going as the budding dictator planned. Youth are protesting and the poor have doubts. Just who is the "left" in Venezuela is now up for grabs.
By hook or crook, President Chávez may yet win this referendum, which proposes 69 amendments to the Constitution. The most worrisome one would remove limits on his reelection – for life. Others would allow him to take private property in an "emergency" and give him direct power over the nation's foreign currency reserves. Media and human rights groups could also be restrained. (See related story.)
VENEZUELA'S STUDENTS LEAD ANTI-CHÁVEZ CHARGE
The Christian Science Monitor
November 28, 2007
Caracas, Venezuela - University student Elena Mela had never protested in her life.
But last week she joined thousands of students in the streets of Caracas to fight against Sunday's referendum on President Hugo Chávez's plan to scrap term limits on his rule. "This will change our entire country," says Ms. Mela. "I will keep fighting for my values."
Despite recent polls showing a decline in support for Mr. Chávez's proposed constitutional reforms, most analysts say he will prevail. But unlike other chapters in his eight-year reign, the growing opposition among students and even from members within his own party – including a longtime ally and former general – could signal that he is pushing changes too fast and too hard. |
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