Venezuela

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Venezuelan Prez Threatens to Cut Off US Oil

If Exxon wins court action seeking assets, Chavez vows revenge

(Newser) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is threatening to cut off US oil supplies if Exxon Mobil wins a court ruling to seize billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets, AP reports. The Texas-based oil giant has challenged Venezuela’s efforts to nationalize a multi-billion-dollar oil project, and the fiery leader promised an...

Venezuela Slowly Turning Against Chavez

Crime is up, the economy is underperforming

(Newser) - Hugo Chavez’s once unshakable authority is finally on the wane in Venezuela, the New York Times reports. After 10 years in office, Chavez is still pushing hard for his socialist vision, but the people are more concerned with rampant crime and an economy that’s in trouble, despite loads...

Chavez Linked to Columbian Drug Trade

FARC guerrillas run cocaine through Venezuela

(Newser) - Hugo Chavez recently grabbed headlines by brokering the release of two women held hostage by FARC, Colombia's guerrilla rebels. But Chavez was no neutral mediator: FARC operates openly in Venezuela, and even hand-in-hand with government agencies, both to wage war in Colombia and smuggle Colombian cocaine into Europe, the Guardian ...

Chavez Turning Florida Into Lil' Venezuela

Cuban exodus echoed in flight north from prez's socialist agenda

(Newser) - Like Cubans fleeing Castro, Venezuelans leery of their country's future under socialist President Hugo Chavez are hightailing it to the US—mainly Florida. Venezuelan expats are raising kids, investing money, and opening businesses in South Florida, the New York Times reports. Asked about returning to Venezuela, “I won’t...

Letters Bare Misery of Colombian Captives

Remaining hostages reveal life chained by neck and suffering from jungle fevers

(Newser) - Eight captives left behind with Colombian rebels describe a miserable existence chained by the neck and suffering excruciating diseases in letters carried out last week by two freed hostages. One weakened captive, a police officer, describes "dragging myself " through the jungle "with only my arms because I...

'Mistrust' Fueling Latin American Arms Race

Venezuela, Brazil lead weapons spending spree

(Newser) - Recent bursts of defense spending from Brazil and Venezuela have experts wondering if Latin America—decades removed from a war between nations—has entered an arms race, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Chile has also invested in weapons recently, and Colombia is rife with war-on-drugs firepower. “There is a...

Colombian Hostages Joyfully Return to Families
Colombian Hostages
Joyfully Return to Families
UPDATED
Jan 10, 2008 9:25 PM CST

Colombian Hostages Joyfully Return to Families

Chavez receives pair at presidential palace

(Newser) - Two freed hostages are back with their families tonight after years of captivity in the Colombian jungle, CNN reports. "We are being reborn!" said Clara Rojas as she was reunited with her elderly mother in Venezuela. "This is like living again," said her fellow former hostage,...

Inside the $800K Suitcase Scandal
Inside the
$800K Suitcase Scandal
Jan 10, 2008 6:29 PM CST

Inside the $800K Suitcase Scandal

A wealthy Miami man implicates Hugo Chavez in an embarrassing cover-up

(Newser) - At the center of an international scandal linking Argentina, Venezuela, and a suitcase filled with nearly $800,000 in cash is a rotund dual US-Venezuelan citizen who lives in a million-dollar Miami condo and has a fondness for fancy watches and fast cars. Bloomberg takes a closer look at the...

Sky-High Oil Will Reshape World Power, Dent US Clout

Power shifts as global economies change

(Newser) - The surging price of oil from $10 a barrel a decade ago to a record $100 today is remaking the global economy and altering the balance of power across the world, according to the Wall Street Journal. If oil prices continue to climb, as many experts predict, US political power...

Chavez Starts Year With Softer Tone

Humbled Venezuelan president switches focus to litter, crime

(Newser) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has rung in 2008 by shifting focus from instituting his broad vision for a revolutionary socialist state to more concrete problems such as battling crime, cleaning up litter-filled streets, and curbing staggering inflation, Reuters reports. Chavez's change in direction comes after voters failed in December to...

Colombian Rescue Deal Collapses
Colombian Rescue Deal Collapses
Jan 1, 2008 4:18 AM CST

Colombian Rescue Deal Collapses

Hostages stuck in jungle; guerrillas, army blame each other

(Newser) - A Venezuela-brokered deal to rescue three hostages from Colombian rebels has fallen apart, Reuters reports. The leftist FARC rebels blamed the deal's failure on stepped-up Colombian army operations in the area and refused to relinquish hostages "due to fear for their safety and the safety of members involved in...

Colombia Hostage Rescue Stalls
Colombia Hostage
Rescue Stalls
Dec 30, 2007 7:00 AM CST

Colombia Hostage Rescue Stalls

Director Oliver Stone joins operation in push for freedom

(Newser) - An expected hostage release negotiated by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez with Colombian leftist rebels failed to materialize yesterday, setting the stage for a more dramatic event today as Latin American politicians and diplomats—and Hollywood film director Oliver Stone—joined rescuers and officials waiting for the rebels' next move, reports...

Mission Begins to Rescue Hostages in Colombia

Chavez sends choppers into jungle

(Newser) - Helicopters sent by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez to rescue hostages from Colombian rebels have landed at the edge of a Colombian wilderness and are awaiting a go-ahead from the rebels, the BBC reports. Guerrillas plan to release two women, seized more than five years ago, and a young boy fathered in...

Hostages Could Be Free in Hours: Chávez

Ready to get Colombian captives, including boy born in jungle

(Newser) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said today that three of the hostages being held by the Colombian rebel group FARC could be freed within hours. Chávez has received permission from the Colombian government to enter its airspace and retrieve the captives. The captives who might be freed will not...

Venezuela To Pick Up Hostages in Colombia

Guerrillas will release under Chavez plan

(Newser) - Three hostages held for more than five years by Marxist guerrillas will soon go free after Colombia agreed today to a handover plan engineered by Hugo Chavez, Reuters reports. Venezuelan planes and helicopters will pick up Clara Rojas, a former vice presidential candidate kidnapped in 2002; the young son she...

Former Ally Now Rivals Chavez
Former Ally Now Rivals Chavez
Dec 24, 2007 6:05 PM CST

Former Ally Now Rivals Chavez

Ex-defense minister pressed Chavez to admit referendum defeat

(Newser) - An ex-ally has become a formidable rival for Hugo Chavez after the president's defeat in a constitutional referendum that would have given him more power and the right to unlimited reelection. The Wall Street Journal explores the career of Raul Baduel, Chavez’ former friend and defense minister, who protected Chavez...

Argentine Prez Campaign Cash Tied to Chavez

$800,000 in suitcase seized en route to Kirchner, US says

(Newser) - US prosecutors are accusing the Hugo Chavez government of sneaking donations to the election campaign of new Argentine President Cristina Kirchner, writes the Guardian. A suitcase filled with $800,000, seized at Buenos Aires airport , was on its way from Caracas to Kirchner, one of the men involved in the...

Chavez Calls Time for Venezuela
Chavez
Calls Time
for Venezuela
Dec 10, 2007 9:30 AM CST

Chavez Calls Time for Venezuela

President orders country's clocks to make 30-minute shift

(Newser) - In an apparent move by Hugo Chavez to thumb his nose at Washington, Venezuela turned back the clock for good yesterday. The shift creates a single-nation time zone 4 hours and 30 minutes behind Greenwich Mean Time. Supporters of the move say waking up earlier will boost productivity, but others...

Not So Noble After All
Not So Noble After All
OPINION
Dec 8, 2007 4:23 PM CST

Not So Noble After All

Chavez tried to fix results, demanded margin of error be shrunk

(Newser) - Why was Hugo Chavez so princely in defeat last week, never demanding a recount after losing at the polls? Because he did try to fix the vote behind closed doors, and relented only when officials slimmed the margin of defeat to help him save face, writes Newsweek's Jorge Castaneda.

OPEC Declines to Boost Oil Output
OPEC Declines to Boost
Oil Output
Dec 6, 2007 10:33 AM CST

OPEC Declines to Boost Oil Output

$80 crude seems to be producers' new target; $3 gas isn't going anywhere soon

(Newser) - OPEC’s decision yesterday not to boost oil production, despite prices hovering around $90 a barrel, underscores a new reality, the New York Times observes: the oil producers aim to keep prices nearly that high—say around $80 a barrel—a target unthinkable a few years ago. In the US,...

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