US seeks to isolate Chavez:
legislator in Venezuela
President of the Venezuelan
Congress Nicolas Maduro said
Saturday that the United States
intends to internationally
isolate Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez.
The ruling-party legislator told
the press that Washington has
provided "a lot of resources"
for a campaign aimed at damaging
Chavez and destroying the
integration of South America.
Maduro made the remarks after
the United States requested the
South American countries to
press the Venezuelan government
to sever its ties with the
Colombian guerrillas and help
solve the dispute between
Colombia and Venezuela.
Last December, Colombian agents
snatched Rodrigo Granda, a
leader of the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia, or the
FARC,on Venezuelan soil and took
him to the Colombian territory.
Relations between Caracas and
Bogota have grown tenser since
the Colombian authorities
acknowledged earlier this month
that they paid bounty hunters to
capture Rodrigo Granda, as
Chavez considered this as a
violation of the national
sovereignty.
The flare-up between Venezuela
and Colombia has alarmed
Washington. The US State
Department sent a message to
Latin American governments
expressing concern over the
rising tensions, the US embassy
in Brasilia said Friday.
The message, sent earlier last
week, "supports the mediation
efforts" of other countries to
resolve the dispute, US embassy
press spokesman Wesley
Carrington said Friday.
Washington has said it supports
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
In Senate confirmation hearings
last week for her appointment as
US Secretary of State,
Condoleeza Rice had cited Chavez
as "a negative force in the
region."
Venezuela's foreign ministry
rejected Rice's accusations on
Wednesday, saying the United
States, not Chavez's government,
was interfering in the affairs
of other nations.
Last Thursday, Interior and
Justice Minister of Venezuela
Jesse Chacon, considered as
possible the existence in the
country of Colombian guerrilla
encampments due to what he
termed as the inefficiency of
the Colombian government.
Bolivian president rules out
resignation
Bolivian President Carlos Mesa
on Saturday ruled out the
possibility that he will resign
or call early general elections,
urging the opponents to be
tolerant and seek solutions
through dialogue.
In an improvised speech before
hundreds of followers who
paraded outside the Government
Palace of La Paz, the
administrative capital of the
Andean country, Mesa said, "In
no moment have I thought to
quit; rather, I commit to
continue."
The head of state faces a
growing popular unrest generated
by increased fuel cost.
General strikes have continued
for several days in the
country's eastern province of
Santa Cruz, with calls for
autonomy.
Protesters in the provincial
capital city Santa Cruz blocked
roads and occupied some
governmental buildings. They
plan to set up an autonomous
government next week if the Mesa
administration does not meet
their call for autonomy.
In order to end the turmoil,
Mesa hinted in a message to the
nation on Jan. 9 that he will
resign if necessary.
Mesa succeeded resigned
President Gonzalo Sanchez in
October 2003, as an independent
politician.
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Thousands of Cubans protest
against US blockade
Over 5,000 people gathered
Saturday in Mantua in the
western province of Pinar del
Rio, demanding an end to the
economic blockade imposed by the
United States on Cuba.
During the Open Tribune of the
Revolution, which takes place
every other Saturday in Cuba,
the demonstrators condemned the
hostile policy Washington has
kept for more than 40 years
against the island country.
Speakers at the rally repudiated
the so-called Cuban
AdjustmentLaw (1966) of the
United States, which stimulates
illegal migration to the United
States by granting a privileged
status to the illegal aliens of
Cuban origin with residence and
labor guarantees.
They also demanded justice for
five Cubans serving severe jail
sentences in US prisons for
allegedly having threatened the
national security of the United
States. |
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