Tag Archives: Country: Venezuela

Fox News: Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro says President Hugo Chavez has died.

Bloomberg: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s re-election and multiple cancer scares give the self-declared socialist momentum to accelerate state intervention in the economy after 14 years in power.

Boston Globe (AP): President Hugo Chavez says he’s seeking friendly relations with representatives of the Roman Catholic Church.

San Francisco Chronicle: Venezuela surpassed Saudi Arabia to become the world’s largest holder of proven oil reserves, a resource that President Hugo Chavez promises to tap if he gets re-elected in October.

National Catholic Register: “It’s part of a trend in Latin America that often doesn’t get noticed: that there is the ‘latex left,’ and certainly countries like Uruguay and Argentina — they’re pushing this pro-abortion, pro-same-sex ‘marriage’ agenda, (and) the justices in Mexico City [are too],” said Tozzi. “But elsewhere the left is more of an old left that emphasizes economics rather than the ‘latex left’ issues,” he added . . . Tozzi sees signs of hope in other countries as well: “You also have the example of Ollanta Humala in Peru, who was elected president about half a year ago, with broad left-wing support. For a variety of reasons, he has rejected the ‘latex left’ agenda. His women’s affairs minister, a big pro-abortion supporter, was fired by him about a month ago and replaced with a woman who’s an evangelical Christian. So there are certain elements of the left in Latin America that are distinct from the latex left, which people sometimes overlook.”

VOANews.com: Lopez accused the Venezuelan Supreme Court of being controlled by Chavez.

Associated Press: “Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez defended plans for a law that would impose broadcast-type regulations on the Internet, saying Sunday that his government should protect citizens against online crimes.”

CBS: “Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Monday ordered the expropriation of U.S.-based glass maker Owens-Illinois Inc.’s unit in the South American country. ”

Huffington Post: “The U.S. State Department is secretly funneling millions of dollars to Latin American journalists, according to documents obtained in June under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). … Thus far, only documents pertaining to Venezuela have been released. They reveal that the PADF, collaborating with Venezuelan NGOs associated with the country’s political opposition, has been supplied with at least $700,000 to give out journalism grants and sponsor journalism education programs.”

Courthouse News Service: “An immigration board’s decision to deny a gay anti-Hugo Chavez activist’s request for asylum was ‘riddled with error’ because it ignored the widespread violence and discrimination he faced in Venezuela, the Eleventh Circuit ruled. The circuit granted the immigrant’s petition for review, since both the immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals ‘failed to provide a reasoned explanation’ for denying relief.” | Ayala v. U.S. Attorney General, No. 09-12113 (11th Cir. May 7, 2010)

Washington Post: “The jailing of a judge in Venezuela threatens the independence of her colleagues and the rule of law in the Latin American OPEC member, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni was arrested by police on December 10, a day after she ordered the conditional release of a long-imprisoned banker accused of fraud.”

Catholic News Agency: “Widespread anxiety exists among Catholic leaders in Venezuela who fear that President Hugo Chavez could try to confiscate churches, schools and other church property and try to ‘eliminate’ the work of the Catholic Church, a source close to the Venezuelan Bishops Conference has told Aid to the Church in Need.”

EWTN: “The Archbishop of Caracas, Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, remarked to Catholics recently that the Venezuelan government decided long ago to expel religion from schools, and therefore they should avoid the temptation to fall into secularism or yield to its onslaught.”

EuroNews: “The law orders schools to base curricula on the ‘Bolivarian Doctrine’ – a reference to ideals espoused by 19th century independence hero Simon Bolivar, such as national self-determination and Latin American unity.”

Miami Herald: “The bill appears to open up education to political interference by the government. Among other provisions, it enshrines ‘Bolivarian doctrine’ as the basis of education and gives a major role in education to the so-called ‘communal councils,’ which are community assemblies mostly dominated by the ruling Unified Socialist Party of Venezuela.”

Boston Globe (AP): Venezuela’s top prosecutor insisted Thursday that freedom of expression in Venezuela “must be limited,” and proposed legislation that would slap additional restrictions on the country’s news media.

Hartford Courant (AP): “A congressionally backed panel said today that religious freedoms were deteriorating in Russia, Turkey and four other nations that were added to a watch list of countries where people’s rights to worship as they please or not to worship at all are at risk.”

President Hugo Chavez says a referendum victory that removed limits on his re-election is a mandate to intensify his socialist agenda for decades to come. Opponents warn of an impending dictatorship.

Catholic Culture: “Supporters of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez hurled tear-gas canisters at the residence of the papal nuncio in Caracas on Monday morning, January 19, after a speech in which Chavez denounced his critics, including the country’s Catholic bishops . …

Last week, Chávez approved 26 laws curiously similar to those rejected by a majority of voters in a referendum on constitutional reform in December.