Venezuela

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Rumors Swirl About Hugo Chavez's Health

Venezuela leader has been low-profile since surgery in Cuba on June 8

(Newser) - Venezuela's Hugo Chavez hasn't been joking about aiming missiles at the US lately. In fact, he has been nearly invisible since emergency surgery in Cuba on June 10, and that has speculation swirling about his health and political future, reports the Wall Street Journal . The official word is...

Venezuela Troops Wage War on Rioting Prisoners

Clashes enter 5th day

(Newser) - A 5,000-strong force of Venezuelan troops has been fighting for four days to regain control of a prison complex outside Caracas. Inmates, also heavily armed, say the troops have been attacking them with assault rifles and tear gas, AP reports. The country's justice minister says two soldiers and...

OPEC Shocks Market, Leaves Production Flat

Investors had been expecting a rise

(Newser) - Crude prices are headed north this morning, after OPEC surprised the market by keeping production flat instead of ramping it up, the Wall Street Journal reports. Nymex crude is currently up almost 2%, above $100 a barrel, after being down ahead of the announcement. OPEC's secretary-general told reporters that...

Bizarre Venezuela Prison Has Pool Parties, Drug Deals

Armed inmates call the shots at San Antonio

(Newser) - The specter of imprisonment usually doesn't include poolside parties, dance clubs, weapons galore, and easy access to BlackBerries. But San Antonio penitentiary, located on Venezuela's Margarita Island, isn't usual. Though its 2,000 inmates risk being shot by guards if caught venturing outside the walls, the New ...

Chavez Jokes About Missiles Aimed at US

Venezuelan leader slams new US sanctions

(Newser) - Poking fun at American fears about Venezuela's ties with Iran and irked by new sanctions, Hugo Chavez quipped about having missiles pointed at the US. "Here they are," he said, holding up a picture of windmills along the country's coast. "They are pointing directly at...

Venezuela Torn in Two After Chavez Urges Squatting

Some claim 'squatters' are actually gangs

(Newser) - Venezuela’s squatters have a friend in Hugo Chavez. Chavez has long encouraged poor Venezuelans to take over unused buildings and farms, but in January he made it official, issuing a decree authorizing those made homeless by floods to take over buildings and land. The results: a country polarized between...

Hugo Chavez: Down With Boob Jobs!

Venezuelan president calls their popularity 'monstrous'

(Newser) - Between 30,000 and 40,000 women get breast augmentations each year in Venezuela—and President Hugo Chavez is not happy about it. On state TV this weekend, he called it “monstrous” that even poor women feel pressure to get breast lifts, and that some doctors “convince some...

Venezuela's Chavez Trying to Play Libya Peacemaker

Gadhafi has accepted his mediation plan, but not rebels

(Newser) - His isn't the first name to come to mind as a peacemaker, but Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is floating a proposal to negotiate a solution in Libya on behalf of his old pal Moammar Gadhafi. It's not clear how seriously the plan will be taken by the outside world, but Gadhafi...

Ship Begins Laying Venezuela-Cuba Cable

Cuba to gain its first fiber-optics line

(Newser) - Cubans will soon find it a lot easier to reach out and touch someone: US sanctions had left the island nation the only country in the Western Hemisphere not linked to the outside world by fiber optics, but a ship has now arrived in Venezuela to begin laying fiber optic...

Chavez Whines About 'Little Hugo' Dog in Colombian Soap

TV company ordered to yank 'shameless' program

(Newser) - A diplomatic battle is brewing over the unlikeliest of things: a Colombian soap opera. Chepe Fortune features a dog named Little Hugo that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is convinced represents him. It also features a character called Colombia and her little sister, Venezuela, who owns the annoying dog. Venezuela (the...

In Venezuela Feud, US Yanks Ambassador's Visa

The move is a response to Venezuela's rejection of US envoy

(Newser) - The US and Venezuela aren’t playing nice in the sandbox: The US has revoked the visa of Bernardo Alvarez, Venezuelan ambassador since 2003, following Venezuela's Dec. 20 rejection of American envoy Larry Palmer. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has refused to welcome Palmer since July, when Palmer angered him by...

As Flood Toll Hits 25, Chavez Opens Palace to Refugees

State of emergency has left 5K homeless

(Newser) - Hugo Chavez is letting dozens of people made homeless by Venezuelan flooding crash at his palace, and he told them yesterday—as the death toll hit 25—that they can stay there until the government finds them new homes. Visiting a slum, the AP reports that Chavez urged other residents...

Chavez, Ahmadinejad Want 'New World Order'

Venezuelan, Iranian leaders announce 'strategic alliance'

(Newser) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the visiting Hugo Chavez joined forces yesterday in slamming US “imperialism” and seeking “a new world order,” al-Jazeera reports. “We are united and determined to end the current unjust which dominates the world and replace it with a new world order based on...

Accused Los Alamos Physicist Now Under House Arrest

Mascheroni charged with trying to get Venezuela nukes

(Newser) - The Los Alamos physicist and his wife accused of trying to peddle nuclear secrets to Venezuela were released to house arrest today, the AP reports. While under the impression that he was in touch with agents of Hugo Chavez's government, Pedro Leonardo Mascheroni is charged with offering to help Venezuela...

At Least 33 Survive Venezuelan Plane Crash

Up to 18 people were killed

(Newser) - A plane carrying 51 people from a Caribbean island crashed today in eastern Venezuela, and officials said 33 survived, while the rest were killed or missing. At least 14 people were killed and four were missing in the crash about six miles from the eastern city of Puerto Ordaz, officials...

Colombia, Venezuela Patch Up Relations

Neighbors had been feuding over rebels, border

(Newser) - Venezuela and Colombia have agreed to kiss and make up after a recent feud that at one point had Hugo Chavez lining the border with troops. Chavez met with newly-minted Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos yesterday to proclaim their newfound friendship. The countries will form joint committees to iron out...

Venezuela Threatens to Cut US Oil Exports

Chavez says he'll cut off the oil if Colombia attacks

(Newser) - Hugo Chavez has again threatened to cut off Venezuela's oil exports to the US. The Venezuelan leader says he'll stop the flow of oil if his country is attacked by close US ally Colombia, the BBC reports. Chavez has cut off diplomatic relations with Colombia over accusations that Venezuela is...

Oliver Stone, NYT Critic Feud Over Bad Review

Filmmaker issues rebuttal, and critic issues his own

(Newser) - Oliver Stone and a New York Times movie critic are feuding over a scathing review of Stone's documentary on Hugo Chavez, South of the Border. It began when the Times' Larry Rohter wrote this piece , in which he accuses Stone of "mistakes, misstatements, and missing details." Stone fired...

Hugo Chavez's First Tweet Is ... Boring

It begins: 'Hey how's it going?'

(Newser) - Geez, even the most bellicose dictators sound humdrum on Twitter. After Venezuela's Hugo Chavez announced he was starting his own feed, the world awaited his first twitterance. Here it is, with translation courtesy of the BBC . "Hey how's it going? I appeared like I said I would: at midnight....

Chavez Launches Twitter Chat

Comandante 'breaks loose' @chavezcandanga

(Newser) - Twitter's 140-character limit is going to be a challenge for a president notorious for hours-long speeches. But Hugo Chavez is nevertheless launching his Twitter feed today, striking back against critics who have been using the micro-blogging site to blast the Venezuelan leader. "I recommend you follow that page after...

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