Venezuela

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After 10 Years, Chavez Faltering
 After 10 Years, Chavez Faltering 
Analysis
Nov 28, 2008 12:34 PM CST

After 10 Years, Chavez Faltering

But still blustering

(Newser) - After 10 years in power, Hugo Chavez is as blustery as ever. He’s predicted the end of “the evil capitalist mode,” told the IMF to “commit suicide,” and this week invited Dmitry Medvedev and a flotilla of Russian warships down for joint exercises. But beneath...

Medvedev Gets Cozy With Castro

Moscow seeks to extend influence in Latin America

(Newser) - Russian president Dmitry Medvedev is in Cuba strengthening ties with the Castro regime and attempting to broaden Russia's influence in Latin America, the BBC reports. Medvedev arrived in Havana yesterday from Venezuela where he and Hugo Chavez signed deals promoting nuclear energy and developing closer military ties. Russia is expected...

Holloway Suspect: I Sold Her

Dutch man admits selling American teen on Aruba in 2005, then switches stories

(Newser) - After claiming—then denying—he dumped Natalee Holloway’s body in the Caribbean, Joran van der Sloot confessed to Fox News he watched her being hauled away on a vessel after selling the drunk teen in 2005 to a Venezuelan man seeking “a blonde girl.” The interview, which...

Ch&aacute;vez Welcomes Russian Navy
 Chávez Welcomes Russian Navy
Nov 25, 2008 12:45 PM CST

Chávez Welcomes Russian Navy

Medvedev makes first visit to Caracas

(Newser) - Russian warships arrived in Venezuela today, a show of strength aimed at the US as Moscow seeks to expand its influence in Latin America. Venezuelan sailors fired off cannons in a 21-gun salute as the destroyer Admiral Chabanenko docked in La Guaira, near Caracas. Russian sailors dressed in black-and-white uniforms...

Opposition Scores Key Gains in Venezuela Election

But president's backers retain majority of power

(Newser) - President Hugo Chávez’s supporters held onto a strong majority in yesterday’s local elections in Venezuela, but the opposition party won a number of key victories, the AP reports. Chávez backers won 17 of 22 gubernatorial seats, while the opposition took the mayor’s office in Caracas...

Latin American Nations Reject DEA

Bolivia, Ecuador latest to repudiate US anti-drug operations

(Newser) - Some Latin American countries are pushing back against the US by cutting off DEA operations, the Christian Science Monitor reports. President Evo Morales, saying DEA agents "worked to conduct political espionage," gave them 3 months to leave Bolivia. Ecuador, meanwhile, has refused to renew the US lease on...

Miami Man Convicted in $800K Suitcase Scandal

Businessman was Chávez agent, jury says

(Newser) - The international political funding scandal known as Suitcasegate took a new, diplomatically fraught turn yesterday when a Miami court convicted a businessman of conspiracy and of acting as an "unregistered agent" of the Venezuelan government. The trial concerns a suitcase filled with $800,000 that was intercepted in Buenos...

OPEC Panics as Oil Plunges
 OPEC Panics as Oil Plunges 
Oct 22, 2008 8:33 AM CDT

OPEC Panics as Oil Plunges

Cartel plans emergency meeting this week to cut production

(Newser) - Earlier this year the nations of OPEC were riding high as booming economic growth and tight supplies buoyed crude above $100. But now a barrel of oil is $70 and dropping fast, and frightened petroleum producers are holding an emergency meeting this week to discuss a production cut. As the...

Penn Hangs Again With Pal Chavez

Actor and anti-American leader tour natural gas pipeline

(Newser) - Sean Penn is again in Venezuela visiting President Hugo Chavez, the New York Post reports. The two met last year, and the actor calls Chavez—who tends to be critical of the US, to put it mildly—"a fascinating guy," while the prez and equally ardent Bush-hater has...

Chavez's Stature Shrinks as Price of Oil Plummets

Venezuela's largesse depends on high volume, expense

(Newser) - Hugo Chavez’s days as an international sugar daddy may be ending, at least for now. Chavez has made a habit of lavishing gifts on his political allies, but with crude around $70—less than half its peak price—he may not have the wealth to spread, the Christian Science ...

Hitchens: We're Now a Banana Republic

Accountability is nil, the president useless

(Newser) - The credit crisis has laid bare the failings of US government, writes Christopher Hitchens in Vanity Fair, putting us on par with other banana republics such as Zimbabwe and Venezuela. How else to describe this "collusion between the overweening state and certain favored monopolistic concerns, whereby the profits can...

Chavez Building Reactor With Russian Support

Only for 'peaceful purposes,' Chavez insists

(Newser) - In his latest challenge to Washington, Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez has announced that his nation is developing a nuclear reactor—with Russian support, Reuters reports. "We are interested in development of nuclear energy, of course for peaceful purposes—for medical purposes, for  electricity," Chavez said yesterday at a...

Resurgent Russia Vows to Beef Up Military

'Colossus' created with $1B Venezuela military loan, oil deal

(Newser) - Russia signed a $1 billion military loan deal with Venezuela yesterday while pledging to upgrade its own military, the New York Times reports. The country plans to ratchet its defense budget back up to Cold War levels next year and intends to have new warships built by 2020. President Dmitry...

Russian Warships Head to Venezuela for 'Training'

Chavez says coordinated exercise is 'warning' to US

(Newser) - Russian warships left this morning for coordinated training exercises with the Venezuelan navy, the AFP reports. The group, consisting of a nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser, anti-submarine ship, and supporting craft, were seen firing artillery on the open ocean in tests. Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said the deployment was a “warning”...

Russia Snubs US, Sells Arms to Iran

Rice blasts belligerence as Moscow sells surface-to-air missiles

(Newser) - Defying the objections of the United States, Russia has announced plans to sell military hardware to Iran and Venezuela. In the latest escalation of the diplomatic standoff between Russia and the West, the state arms exporter will sell anti-aircraft systems to the two countries, the Times of London reports. "...

US Slaps Sanctions on Chavez Aides
US Slaps Sanctions on Chavez Aides
Sep 13, 2008 5:48 AM CDT

US Slaps Sanctions on Chavez Aides

3 charged with backing FARC drug runners, as tensions mount

(Newser) - Escalating the diplomatic crisis with Venezuela, the US has frozen the assets of three members of Hugo Chavez's inner circle it accuses of having links with drug-running Colombian rebels, the Wall Street Journal reports. The sanctions follow the expulsion by Venezuela and Bolivia of their US ambassadors—a move the...

Chavez Boots US Envoy: 'Go to Hell, Yankees!'

Threatens to cut oil shipments

(Newser) - In a dramatic move in support of Bolivia, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez yesterday slashed diplomatic ties with the US, booting the American ambassador and calling home his envoy from Washington, reports Reuters. The socialist leader has also threatened to stop all oil shipments to the US—Venezuela’s largest customer—...

Russian Bombers Land in Venezuela

Strategic fighters arrive after Chavez's invitation

(Newser) - Two Russian bombers have landed at an airfield in Venezuela, where the Russian defense ministry says they will conduct a few days of test flights. The mission comes after Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan president, invited the Russian air force to conduct operations in its territory. A spokesman for the...

Former London Mayor Will Advise Chávez

'Red Ken' seals urban planning deal nixed by his successor

(Newser) - Ken Livingstone, London's mayor from 2000 until his election defeat this May, has found a new job: consultant to Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez. "Red Ken," who has long been a supporter of the socialist president, will advise pro-government mayors on urban planning, reports the BBC. Last year...

Chavez Grabs Vast New Powers With Dictator Decrees

List includes a personal militia

(Newser) - Avowed US foe Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has drastically expanded his powers with a litany of personal decrees that bypass the nation's legislature, reports the Wall Street Journal. Some of the decrees enact laws specifically rejected by the electorate in a referendum just months ago.

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