Venezuela

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Chavez to Obama: 'I Want to Be Your Friend'

(Newser) - President Obama smiled and shook hands with Hugo Chavez today, only a month after the anti-American Venezuelan leader called Obama "ignorant," the Times of London reports. "I want to be your friend," said Chavez today. The White House had said Obama would not meet personally...

Chavez Looks to Smooth Tensions with US

Venezuelan president ready to 'press the reset button'

(Newser) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez indicated yesterday that he hopes to ease tensions between his leftist government and the US, reports Reuters. The Cuba ally has long been a vocal critic of American policies, famously calling former President Bush "the devil" and dismissing Barack Obama as an "ignoramus....

Chavez Rounding Up Top Political Foes

Is president tightening grip as oil prices drop?

(Newser) - The Venezuelan government arrested opposition figure Raúl Baduel yesterday, the second such move in recent weeks, the Wall Street Journal reports. Baduel, a former defense minister and ally of President Hugo Chavez, helped restore the president to power after a coup in 2002, but he helped rally opposition to...

Gitmo So 'Fun,' Miss Universe 'Didn't Want to Leave'

'It was very interesting,' she writes in blog

(Newser) - Not many people have fun at Guantanamo Bay, but Miss Universe did. Caracas-born beauty Dayana Mendoza visited the US naval base surrounded by barbed wire and watchtowers yesterday, and had a "relaxing, calm" time, she said. It was a "loooot of fun!" she wrote in her blog....

Russia May Land Bombers in Cuba, Venezuela

(Newser) - Russian bombers may find a home in Latin America, Bloomberg reports. Venezuela and Cuba have offered to let Moscow use their airfields, and a top military official seems to like the idea. “If the heads of the two countries show the will, the political will, then we are prepared...

Chavez Takes Over Highways, Airports

Key transport links now in federal hands, weakening anti-Chavez governors

(Newser) - Venezuela's national assembly has voted to transfer control of the country's ports, highways and airports to President Hugo Chavez, reports the BBC. Critics say switching control of transport links from state to federal level is unconstitutional and will further weaken mayors and governors opposed to Chavez. The president's backers say...

Ch&aacute;vez Seizes US Cargill Plant
Chávez
Seizes US
Cargill Plant
Mar 5, 2009 4:52 AM CST

Chávez Seizes US Cargill Plant

Venezuela naionalizes rice mill amid food shortages

(Newser) - Hugo Chávez yesterday took control of the Venezuelan plant of the American food company Cargill, restarting a drive toward nationalization as the country's oil revenues plummet. Reuters reports that the government seized a rice plant run by Cargill, claiming that mills are deliberately producing small amounts of rice in...

Chavez Orders Army to Seize Rice Plants

Struggle over nationalization as plants fear bankruptcy

(Newser) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered the army to seize control of the nation's rice processing plants, continuing a trend of industrial nationalization by his government, reports the BBC. Chavez accused the plants of failing to meet government price quotas for grain, intended to ensure cheap food prices. The plants,...

Cheap Oil Keeps World Economy Off Balance
Cheap Oil Keeps World Economy Off Balance
ANALYSIS
Feb 20, 2009 5:18 AM CST

Cheap Oil Keeps World Economy Off Balance

With crude under $40, investment dries up, nations lose revenue

(Newser) - Oil surged 13% yesterday in New York trading—and still closed at less than $40 a barrel, reports the Washington Post. Cheap oil has been a boon for consumers in the recession, but the collapse in crude prices has contributed to further havoc in international markets from Canada to Kuwait....

Venezuela Seizes Stanford Bank, Calls It Healthy

Country provided up to 30% of group's funds

(Newser) - Venezuela has taken control of a bank run by alleged fraudster R. Allen Stanford and his Stanford International Group, the New York Times reports. A banking regulator said the retail bank is essentially healthy, but Venezuelans are still fretting. “When Venezuelan forces say nothing is wrong,” explained one...

Chavez Wins Referendum to Stay in Power

(Newser) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez won a key referendum today that will keep him in office for as long as he wins elections, Reuters reports. After years of debate, Chavez supporters voted to abolish term limits that would have ended his rule in 2013. The reported margin of victory, 54% to...

Bye, Bye, Petro-Czars
 Bye, Bye, Petro-Czars 
ANALYSIS
Feb 15, 2009 6:02 PM CST

Bye, Bye, Petro-Czars

The power of petro-czars has slumped as oil prices have fallen

(Newser) - There is one silver lining to the global recession: The economic and political fortunes of America’s oil-rich antagonists have been tarnished, Rana Foroohar writes in Newsweek. Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez have all been humbled by the falling price of...

For Chavez, the End Is Near
 For Chavez, the End Is Near 
OPINION
Feb 14, 2009 4:04 PM CST

For Chavez, the End Is Near

Referendum will keep him in power, but Venezuelan economy makes it 'irrelevant'

(Newser) - Hugo Chavez has a slight lead in tomorrow’s referendum that would allow him to extend his rule in Venezuela, but the realities of the country’s economy make the issue “mostly irrelevant,” Edward Schumacher-Matos writes in the Washington Post. No matter the outcome, his days are numbered....

Chavez Marks Decade in Power
 Chavez Marks Decade in Power 
Feb 2, 2009 9:55 AM CST

Chavez Marks Decade in Power

President gives Venezuela today off amid attempts to continue reign

(Newser) - Hugo Chavez declared a national holiday in Venezuela today to celebrate his 10th anniversary as the country’s president, Reuters reports. The festivities come during efforts by Chavez supporters to extend presidential term limits, and amid fears from some quarters that his increased power is evolving into dictatorship. But Chavez...

Chavez Cronies Hit Vatican HQ With Tear Gas

Supporters also attack opponents of lifting term limits for leader

(Newser) - Supporters of Hugo Chavez have claimed responsibility for a tear gas attack on the Vatican's headquarters in Caracas, reports CNN. Three canisters landed deep inside the building, which has been sheltering an anti-Chavez student leader wanted by police since June. Several people were overcome by fumes. Gas attacks elsewhere in...

Chavez Quietly Courts Western Oil Firms

Falling oil prices force Venezuelan prez to swallow his pride

(Newser) - The falling price of oil is forcing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to quietly make overtures to the Western oil companies he used to harass and shun, reports the New York Times. Chavez needs the foreign expertise and purchasing power to help boost Venezuela's declining production and income. The lure of...

Venezuela Yanks Free Fuel for Poor Americans

Plunging price of oil forces Chavez to freeze fuel aid program

(Newser) - Venezuela has halted its gifts of free fuel to America's poor, the New York Times reports. The controversial foreign aid project supplied heating oil to 200,000 low-income households in 23 states and on Indian reservations, but the plunge in the price of oil has hit Venezuela hard and President...

Russian Warships Dock at Havana Bay

(Newser) - Russian warships arrived in Havana yesterday for the first time since the end of the Cold War, the London Times reports. The visit comes at the end of a 3-month South American tour that Russia expected would raise hackles in the US. “I guess they’re on R&R,...

Stone Shooting Chavez Flick
 Stone Shooting Chavez Flick 
Dec 11, 2008 5:32 AM CST

Stone Shooting Chavez Flick

Director sticking with politics for follow-up to W

(Newser) - Controversial filmmaker Oliver Stone is following up his Bush biopic with a documentary on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the new wave of Latin American leftism, Variety reports. Stone, who joined Chavez earlier this year in an effort to broker a deal to free hostages held by Colombian rebels, has...

Chavez Seeks Power Until 2021

Launching new constitutional battle on term limits

(Newser) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is again maneuvering to stay in power for at least another decade, the BBC reports. Chavez plans to seek a constitutional change that will allow him to seek re-election indefinitely, he told a weekend rally. Chavez lost a referendum just a year ago on a series...

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