Chavez
says victory in referendum
"inevitable"
Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez stressed Thursday that
his victory in Sunday's recall
referendum will be "inevitable",
and he will thwart the
"operations" of the United
States in the South American
country.
"Our victory
will be inevitable", Chavez told
foreign reporters at a press
conference.
The president repeatedly said
his true rival in the referendum
is not domestic political
opposition but the US
government, and US President
George W. Bush is the "master"
of his Venezuelan rivals.
Chavez blamed the spies of the
US Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) for trying to destabilize
Venezuela, the fifth largest oil
producer in the world.
He said the Bush administration
is behind the coup attempt which
made him out of office for 48
hours in April 2002.
"We have evidence that the US
government of Bush has financed
and trained the participants in
the coup and we are closely
following up the clandestine
operations of the CIA," he said.
The CIA has carried out
operations in Guatemala, the
Dominican Republic, Panama and
Venezuela, Chavez said but
without giving more details.
Venezuela will not be
"defeated," but remain to be a
sovereign state instead of a US
colony, he said.
The president added that he will
respect the result of the
referendum and hand over power
to Vice President Jose Rangel if
he loses.
About 14 million Venezuelans are
expected to vote on President
Hugo Chavez's rule in the recall
referendum scheduled for Sunday.
Under the Venezuelan
Constitution, in order to oust
Chavez, the opposition has to
collect a number of votes equal
to or more than that obtained by
the president in the 2000
election, which is at least 3.7
million votes.
Chavez, who was elected in 1998
and reelected to a six-year term
in 2000, has experienced two
general strikes, a 48-hour
military coup in April 2002 and
a strike at the beginning of
last year.
If the opposition succeeds, a
new election would be held
within 30 days and the winner
would serve out Chavez's term,
which ends in January 2007.
1 million ordered to evacuate as
hurricane threatens Florida
Officials in the southeastern US
state of Florida on Thursday
warned about a million residents
and tourists to get out of the
way of Hurricane Charley, which
has brewed off the coast of Cuba
and threatened to strengthen,
possibly within the next 24
hours, media reports said.
The evacuation zone stretched
along Florida's west coast from
Key West to north of Tampa.
The storm was expected to pass
west of the Keys at Florida's
tip early Friday before hitting
the Tampa Bay area in the
afternoon with winds up to 180
km per hour, heavy rain,
sporadic tornadoes and the
dangerous storm surge, the
reports quoted Hugh Cobb, a
meteorologist at the National
Hurricane Center in Miami, as
saying.
"Residents who choose to stay
during this hurricane should
keep a close eye on this storm,"
the authorities said in a
statement. "It is intensifying
and is expected to continue
intensifying as it approaches
the Keys. Everyone should finish
up securing homes and property
and anyone planning to leave the
Keys should do immediately."
The Florida Keys, the string of
islands that begins south of
Miami and extends to Key West,
is one of Florida's chief
attractions for the legions of
tourists who come to South
Florida for its balmy climate
and proximity to the Caribbean.
Florida, with 15 million people,
is often pummeled by strong
hurricanes, and residents have
been through the evacuation
drill before, nailing boards
over windows and stowing water
and food.
In addition to Hurricane
Charley, a tropical storm
warning for the storm that was
dubbed Bonnie remains in effect
from east of Apalachicola to the
mouth of the Suwannee river, the
National Weather Service said.
Hurricane Charley forces 200,000
Cubans to flee
The Cuban
government ordered over 200,000
residents and 2,000 foreign
tourists to evacuate Thursday
with the arrival of Hurricane
Charley, according to local
reports.
Reports said that the hurricane,
with winds of up to 155
kilometers an hour, is expected
to reach the island Friday
between 1:00 am and 3:00 am
(0500 GMT and 0700 GMT).
The government had set up
shelters and prepared food and
other supplies for evacuated
people, and as a safe
precaution, shut off electricity
in Cuba's capital Havana.
Livestock herds were taken
uphill, fishermen were called to
ports and crops were collected
while other agricultural work
was suspended.
According to the Civil Defense,
a heavy rain hit central Cuba on
Thursday.
Other reports said that
Hurricane Charley also caused
the authorities of the US State
of Florida, at the peak of its
tourist season, to issue a
mandatory evacuation order on
Thursday.
On Wednesday, Cuba issued a
state of hurricane alert for the
seven provinces in the western
region.
Cuba was hit three times in 2001
and 2002 by tropical hurricanes,
which caused great economic
losses, especially to the
western region.
Colombian police confiscate 1.2
tons of cocaine
The
Colombian police confiscated 1.2
tons of cocaine and captured two
drug traffickers in an anti-drug
sweep on Thursday in the capital
city of Bogota, a spokesman for
the police told the press.
The spokesman pointed out the
cocaine was found in the front
wheel of a roller which would be
exported to Mexico in the
western suburb of Bogota. The
destination of the cocaine worth
20 million US dollars is the
United States.
Colombia is the world's top
cocaine producer, with an annual
output of 580 tons of cocaine,
most of which end up in the
United States and west Europe.
According to official
statistics, the Colombian army
and police destroyed 75,000
hectares of coca plantations,
smashed 319 cocaine processing
factories and confiscated 42
tons of cocaine and 382 kgof
heroin in a series of anti-drug
operations from January to July
this year.
|
