AFP

Cuba's Raul Castro to make Venezuela trip

Cuban President Raul Castro is to arrive in Venezuela on Saturday on his first overseas trip since taking over from his brother Fidel Castro, President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday.

AFP

Nearly 30,000 Cubans provide healthcare in Venezuela

Nearly 30,000 Cuban doctors, dentists, nurses and technicians are providing healthcare to the poor through a Venezuelan government-sponsored program, officials here said Wednesday.

NEWSWEEK

Jorge Castaneda | Latin America’s deafening silence

To the myriad foreign challenges Barack Obama will have to confront upon taking office we may have to add a complex conundrum next door in Latin America. On three fronts that have posed serious problems for the United States before -- Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba -- there is a growing and worrisome democratic challenge in the hemisphere—and no one knows quite how to handle it.

EL NUEVO HERALD

Hugo Chávez le tiene miedo a la televisión

La única televisora venezolana que sigue valientemente reportando lo que realmente sucede en ese país, Globovisión, cumplió 14 años de fundada el 1 de diciembre, por lo que es mentira del gobierno venezolano decir que se fundó para atacar a Chávez. El verdadero problema es que el presidente venezolano no acepta ninguna interpretación o descripción del acontecer diferente a la suya, tanto sobre los sucesos internos como lo que pasa en el resto del mundo.

Putin sees no need for bases in Cuba, Venezuela

Vladimir Putin says he sees no need for Russia to build military bases in Cuba or Venezuela.

ST PETERSBURG TIMES

Losses puncture Hugo Chavez's ambition

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez certainly likes to put on a show. Only days after his ruling socialist party suffered major losses in regional elections Sunday, he is hosting Russian President Dimitry Medvedev today on a state visit. Just to add to the occasion, part of Russia's Northern Fleet dropped anchor off the Venezuelan coast Tuesday, led by its flagship, Peter the Great.

THE WASHINGTON POST

In rampant crime, political danger for Hugo Chávez

For the first time in years, Venezuela's political opposition is poised to break President Hugo Chávez's nearly complete hold on local and state offices. Crime is one reason why.

THE WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL

Calling the Empire

Unlike his close allies in Moscow, Venezuela's Hugo Chávez dispatched a cheerful message to Barack Obama after the election. Mr. Chávez, who expelled the U.S. ambassador from Caracas in September, offered a fresh start on relations with what he likes to call "the empire"; he even tried to take credit for the victory of Mr. Obama (whom he calls "the black man"). Maybe that's because Mr. Chávez faces his own crucial electoral test this month. With his own popularity sinking, and that of Mr. Obama soaring in Venezuela and around Latin America, the populist caudillo needs all the help he can get.

Ecuador's Correa May Burn Ally Hugo Chavez

Ecuador President Rafael Correa's looming default on $510 million of bonds may hurt his biggest ally, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez, more than anyone else. Chavez's government owns structured notes tied to Ecuador's bonds that would force Venezuela to pay $400 million if Correa doesn't make the payment, according to estimates by Barclays Capital Inc.

Alertan sobre preso político en Venezuela

Líderes y organizaciones políticas del sur de la Florida lanzaron ayer un llamado de alerta sobre la delicada situación de salud que padece el preso político Raúl Díaz Peña, detenido en Venezuela desde el 2004 sin ser sometido a juicio.

Denuncian presencia de venezolanos y cubanos en Bolivia

Una activa participación de militares venezolanos, con centenares de millones de dólares en cheques entregados, y la injerencia ''sutil y profesional'' de agentes cubanos en un sofisticado sistema de represión, forman parte de la operación cotidiana del gobierno del presidente Evo Morales, denunciaron en Miami dirigentes y analistas bolivianos.

VIO

Venezuelan elections to be monitored

Regional elections in Venezuela on November 23rd will be monitored by 130 foreign observers from groups such as the OAS, according to the Caracas newspaper El Universal. Observer missions have been invited from 34 different countries.

LATINOBAROMETRO

New poll shows Venezuelans satisfied with democracy

The Latinobarometro survey of Latin American attitudes toward democracy was released today. Results published in the Economist show that Venezuelans are the region's second-most satisfied with the functioning of democracy in their country. Confidence in institutions like Congress, the Judiciary, and political parties is also high. Over one third of Venezuelan respondents said that inequalities have diminished.

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

Falling oil prices dent Hugo Chávez's clout in Venezuela

Sixteen months ago, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez visited Nicaragua to lay the ceremonial cornerstone to a new $3.9 billion oil refinery to help "liberate" Nicaragua from poverty. Today, the cornerstone, outside the city of León, sits among weeds. And with the price of oil 55 percent less than its peak in July, many Nicaraguans are starting to wonder if it will ever amount to more than a mere brick

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Venezuela, Iran, Russia face oil reckoning

As the price of oil roared to ever higher levels in recent years, the leaders of Venezuela, Iran and Russia muscled their way onto the world stage, using checkbook diplomacy and, on occasion, intimidation. Now, plummeting oil prices are raising questions about whether the countries can sustain their spending — and their bids to challenge United States hegemony.

THE WASHINGTON POST

As election looms, Chávez steps up rhetoric

With President Hugo Chávez's socialist party facing tough regional elections in November, the government is ramping up the warnings of a U.S. attack on Venezuela like never before ,and taking the requisite actions against what officials say are shadowy assassination plots and U.S.-orchestrated destabilizing plans.

NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS

Hugo Chávez versus human rights

On September 18, Human Rights Watch released a report in Caracas that shows how President Hugo Chávez has undermined human rights guarantees in Venezuela. That night, we returned to our hotel and found around twenty Venezuelan security agents, some armed and in military uniform, awaiting us outside our rooms. They were accompanied by a man who announced—with no apparent sense of irony—that he was a government "human rights" official and that we were being expelled from the country.

Complete coverage of the Americas Conference

During a speech at the Americas Conference in Coral Gables, Haitian President Rene Preval once again called on the Bush administration to grant temporary protected status to Haitians living in the United States illegally, saying his nation is struggling with recovery efforts after four devastating storms and could no longer "accept'' deported nationals.
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EL NUEVO HERALD

Testigo revela millonario fondo de Hugo Chávez para gobierno de Evo Morales

Un acaudalado empresario petrolero que se declaró culpable de ser un agente ilegal de Venezuela admitió el miércoles en un tribunal federal de Miami que recibió una oferta del embajador de ese país en Bolivia para manejar un fondo de $100 millones que se usaría parcialmente en la compra de equipos antimotines para el gobierno boliviano.

AP

Asamblea venezolana aprueba ley de expropiación de tierras

Una ley para el reordenamiento territorial, que contempla expropiaciones de tierras privadas "por causa de utilidad pública", comenzó su trámite en la Asamblea Nacional que la aprobó en primera discusión.