RUSSIA-VENEZUELA ARMS DEAL

With help from Russian Arms Chavez takes Venezuelan defense to grass root level

Venezuela to Develop Busy Agenda in 2005

Another key success of Venezuelan relations in Latin America is the integrationist project known as Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) conceived as an alternative or substitute for Washington"s Free Trade Agreement for the Americas (FTAA).b

ITALY-VENEZUELA

CHAVEZ VISITING ROME THIS SUMMER

US-VENEZUELA CONFRONTATION

Disarming Latin America

Venezuela Denounces At UN U.S. Intrusion on Its Internal Affairs

Chavez to suspend oil exports to US in case of assassination attempt

Mr. Chavez feels Venezuela's future is certainly not with the USA
Now that Venezuela has signed bilateral oil agreements with Iran, Russia and China, Jorge Boosh is seeing red. George takes these sovereign acts as a declaration of war -- of open terrorism, as being sufficient evidence to include Venezuela in the coming holocaust of the “axis of evil.”
The final stroke will come this year when President Chavez switches to the Petro-Euro, or creates a Latin American currency.

Venezuela's Chavez Says U.S. Plotting to Kill Him

Venezuela-Colombia and the White House
Suggestions of an assassination should not surprise anybody
Eleazar Diaz Rangel, the editor of the Venezuelan newspaper Ultimas Noticias, reflects on the diplomatic resolution of the crisis between Venezuela and Colombia over the kidnapping of Colombian guerrilla leader Rodrigo Granda, in which U.S. pressures to Latin American countries were either ignored or rejected.

Chavez: Kill me and oil stops

Verbal 'dirty war' outbreaks between USA and Venezuela
President Hugo Chavez says Washington is plotting to kill him, while the US dismisses allegations as wild

Kill Venezuela's Chavez?

A spectre stalks the Americas
Is the United States' nightmare of “a second Cuba” coming true in Venezuela?

Venezuela Steps up anti-Isolationist Campaign Warning

Venezuela Says U.S. Charges Prelude to 'Attack'

Venezuela Repeats Allegations of Plot to Kill Chavez

Colombians Reject US Provocation against Cuba

Venezuela Stands Firm Says Official in Cuba

In the future, the US can expect little cooperation from Venezuela
You cannot fault China for taking advantage of Washington’s shortcomings ... they want Latin American resources and have plenty of dollars in hand to back their desires.

Venezuela eyes U.S. military on Curacao
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela's navy is taking a close look at the American military presence on the nearby island of Curacao to determine the intention of U.S. operations there, Venezuela's navy commander said Monday.

USA charts roadmap to change OAS Democratic Charter vs. Venezuela
The USA government, the newspaper reports, has already started to move its pieces, leading up to next July’s OAS General Assembly aimed at penalizing States that "gradually break away from democracy."

Differences Between US and Venezuela Can Be Resolved Says Venezuela’s Foreign Minister

US Military: Post-Chavez Venezuela 2002 to pour oil on troubled waters

The analysis, which bears the hallmarks of a lengthy preparation in anticipation of the April coup d'etat but not its subsequent failure, continues: With former President Hugo Chavez no longer calling the shots in Venezuela following his resignation and arrest April 12, state oil monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) will quickly increase oil production to both generate income and reassert its desire to become a major global energy player. This will provide enough additional supply to mitigate the recent instability in global energy markets.

CHAVEZ BLASTS US CORPORATIONS

Venezuela tax agency shuts down Coca-Cola operations

Update 2: Venezuela Agency Closes Coke Operations

Coke hit by Venezuela's tax war
Venezuela's tax authorities have ordered a 48-hour closure of Coca Cola's bottling plants for allegedly not following tax rules.

Bush Faces Battle Over C. American Trade

VENEZUELA-BRAZIL ALLIANCE

Brazilian President Meets with Chavez in Venezuela

Brazil and Venezuela Sign Cooperation Accords

Lula and Chavez to Boost Alliance

Alliance with Venezuela and Rapprochement to Caribbean, Lula´s Tour

Venezuela and Brazil Presidents Advance in the Road to Integration

Venezuela, Brazil seal "strategic alliance"

Brazil deal spurs fears of Chávez arms race

VENEZUELA OIL WARS

Venezuela Signs Renegotiated ConocoPhillips Oil Exploration Contract
By: Gregory Wilpert – Venezuelanalysis.com

Venezuela: Oil-Flush Chávez Begins to Strut His Stuff
By: Jessica Leight - COHA
• Recent arms sales could have an explosive impact on U.S.-Venezuela relations.
• Recalling Czech small arms sales to the leftist Guatemalan government in 1954, which led to a CIA-supported coup, the same could happen in Venezuela.
• Colombia and Venezuela resolve recent conflict despite no positive U.S. assistance.
• Washington’s irrelevance represents a massive diplomatic defeat, marking yet another setback to Roger Noriega’s pathetic mishandling of U.S. relations with Latin America.
• Brazil’s weapons sales to Caracas throws a protective shield around Venezuela.

Venezuela and China Keep Strengthening Economic Links

China, Iran, Russia and Venezuela are making all kinds of oil deals
This has only just begun. George Bush and the neocons have made most every nation dislike us and quite frankly, the outcome for the American people is going to be disastrous.

BATTLE OF THE FARC

Rebel attacks in Colombia shake confidence in government claims it is beating the guerrillas

Colombia and Venezuela appear to end row

Violence recruits in Colombia as rebels take the offensive
More than 50 soldiers died in the last two months in clashes with Marxist guerrillas

Colombia Dismisses Arms Race with Venezuela

Venezuela's Chavez, Colombia's Uribe Say Dispute Settled

Rebels wreak havoc in Colombia
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Explosives planted in a hotel blow up, killing five people. A major TV and radio network is bombed. An electrical substation is dynamited. A bus is torched on a major highway after passengers are forcibly removed.

Uribe: Colombia Faces Battle vs. Rebels
Hard Road in Its Fight Against Leftist Rebels
By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press Writer

Colombia in Negative
On the Opposition to Uribe’s Government and Other Affronts to the Establishment
By Laura del Castillo Matamoros
Narco News Editorial Columnist

Venezuelan Foreign Minister says Venezuela is not engaged in any arms race

Venezuela arrests key Chavez foe
Police in Venezuela say they have arrested a leader of the strike which failed to oust President Hugo Chavez two years ago.

RUSSIA-VENEZUELA ARMS DEAL

With help from Russian Arms Chavez takes Venezuelan defense to grass root level

Venezuela defends arms purchase
Venezuela's Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel rejected U.S.
criticism of the deal to buy Russian military helicopters and 100,000
rifles, which he said were part of a policy to strengthen the nation's
frontier defense.....Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, is a top
fuel supplier to the United States. But relations between Caracas and
Washington have soured since left-wing President Hugo Chavez came to
power six years ago.

US protests against Russia plans to sell arms to Venezuela

Venezuela's arms buildup worries U.S.
Chavez seeks to buy combat aircraft from Brazil

The American government has no business meddling in Venezuela’s internal affairs.

Now that Venezuela has signed bilateral oil agreements with Iran, Russia and China, Jorge Boosh is seeing red. George takes these sovereign acts as a declaration of war -- of open terrorism, as being sufficient evidence to include Venezuela in the coming holocaust of the “axis of evil.”

Mr. Bush has decided to destroy Venezuela and its democratic government

A good time to make the switch would be in June when Iran opens their oil exchange, which we understand will trade oil in dollars and euros. At that point, we believe it would be too late for the US-Colombia to invade either Iran or Venezuela. They could well bring on nuclear war with China and Russia.

Mr. Bush is playing chicken with both countries, and we can assure you China and Russia will call Mr. Bush’s bluff.

Venezuela's strategy is to get out of non-profit businesses in the USA

"Not one Venezuelan works at these refineries ... they don't give us one cent of profit ... they don't pay taxes in Venezuela ... this is economic imperialism."

Latin America and Venezuela in Transformation

"Our people are choosing ... an alternative to neo-liberalism"
By: Marta Harnecker - Brazil de Fato
Interview with Marta Harnecker by Mário Augusto Jakobskind of Brazil de Fato, January 10, 2005

Autonomy movements starting to flourish in South America

''Cycle of Instability in the Andes: Bolivia, Ecuador and

Venezuela may sell U.S. oil refineries

According to the Times, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has been at odds with the Bush administration and has in recent months moving toward increased petroleum alliances with China, signaled on Tuesday that his government was interested in selling its American oil-refining operations.

Chavez's move to sell more oil to China isn't likely to immediately divert supplies from the United States, but it hints at testing already-strained relations with the Bush administration, the Times said.

Venezuela to Sell Citgo-Owned Refineries
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said the government-run oil company plans to sell eight Citgo-owned refineries in U.S. territory.

Venezuela and China Sign 19 Cooperation Agreements

USA creating a base for war on the people of South America and Venezuela

Considering the actions of the US, in both Colombia and Venezuela recently, and the oil war now in progress, we believe the Bush administration wants to do the same thing in Venezuela as they have in Iraq and they are using Colombia as a springboard. In fact, it’s surprising that they did not pursue Venezuela first.

Iran to help Venezuela to sell more oil to Asia

Plan Colombia -­ beach head of the USA Empire in South America

VHeadline commentarist Carlos Herrera writes: The Granda affair and the resulting freezing of economic relations between Colombia and Venezuela ... two countries with the same historical roots ... has once again drawn attention to Plan Colombia as a strategy of US neoliberal expansionism in the Andean region.

Venezuelan move to replace US$ with the €uro upsetting Washington more than Saddam's €uro conversion last November

VHeadline.com editor & publisher Roy S. Carson writes: A move by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias to replace the US$ with the €uro is seen as upsetting Washington more than when Iraq's Saddam Hussein started using the €uro for oil transactions last November ... precipitating the US-led action to invade Iraq. Beltway bullies are now said to be angered by Venezuela's decision to barter oil with thirteen other Latin American countries, dealing moves to dollarize South America currencies. Intelligence reports say that while the US was able to pull the wool over the international community and ally with Britain's Blair to bulldoze action against former Iran War ally Hussein, the situation with Venezuela is proving more difficult.

While all eyes are on Iran and Syria, US action may be in Venezuela with a start of Venezuela-Colombia war from war of words

India Daily
Balaji Reddy, Special Correspondent
January 23, 2005
While all eyes are on possible American actions in Iran and Syria, the real ball game this time is happening in Venezuela-Colombia area.

LATIN AMERICA: Cuba and Venezuela strengthen solidarity

Stuart Munckton
In Havana on December 14, Cuban President Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez signed a new, far-reaching economic agreement between the two nations.

COLOMBIA-VENEZUELA GRANDA AFFAIR

William E. Izarra: Granda affair constitutes beginning of indirect US intervention

Colombia’s Double Standard for Terrorism, Part II
The Discreet Charm of Salvatore Mancuso and His Boys

VENEZUELA: US tries isolation tactics
“We are very concerned about a democratically elected leader who governs in an illiberal way”, intoned US Secretary of State-designate Condeleeza Rice addressing a January 18 Senate foreign relations committee. Rice was referring to Venezuela's radical left-wing President Hugo Chavez.

President Hugo Chavez Frias in key move; takes over command of the territorial army

VENEZUELA – A new phase in the struggle

Colombia's President Uribe Hospitalized
Chavez, a self-proclaimed "revolutionary" whose closest ally is Cuba's Fidel Castro, has said the dispute is "practically over" and should be resolved in the talks.

Is Fox News Prepping Us for War w/Venezuela?

Rebel at centre of Venezuela-Colombia dispute speaks of US involvement
An imprisoned guerrilla whose capture in Venezuela ignited a bitter dispute between Colombia and Venezuela said yesterday he freely journeyed abroad with legal travel documents as an envoy of Colombia's main rebel group, but denied allegations he was involved in drug trafficking or gun running.

Chinese vice president signs cooperation pacts in Venezuela
Chavez and Zeng also were to participate in a meeting of business leaders discussing possible Chinese investment in the Venezuelan oil and gas industry as well as the purchase of Chinese farm equipment.

US prepares invasion of Venezuela: Venezuelan ambassador

Venezuela Condems U.S. Calls for Pressure from Latin American Countries Over Crisis With Colombia

Andean Community Urges U.S. to Stay Out of Venezuela-Colombia Crisis Over Kidnapping

Chavez Sees U.S. Readying for Conflict

Venezuela: Be prepared for the next violent attack on the Bolivarian Revolution

Venezuela Rejects Rice's Criticism, Calls for Better U.S. Ties

Rice: Cuba an 'outpost of tyranny,' Venezuela a 'negative force'
Condoleezza Rice had harsh words for Cuba and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez as she sketched out her Latin America policy at her Senate confirmation hearing.

Venezuela Says Will Not Tolerate U.S. Meddling

Rice puts Venezuela on notice
Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice accused Venezuela yesterday of meddling in the affairs of neighboring countries and also expressed concern about its growing friendship with Cuba.

Rice: Venezuela's Chavez 'Very Deeply Troubling'

Colombia - Venezuela impasse: Another day, another lie?

Colombia-Venezuela dispute spirals
Far from apologizing as has been demanded by Venezuela, Colombia says it is the "offended one" in the case of a key Colombian insurgent captured by bounty-hunters in Caracas, and that it will provide proof that the Marxist guerrilla had received protection from Venezuelan authorities.

Venezuela tightens border security as dispute with Colombia escalates

The Rodrigo Granda Affair
The Kidnapping of a Revolutionary in Venezuela

US backs Colombia in dispute with Venezuela

Venezuela calls back envoy to Colombia

Colombia Admits It Hired Agents to Abduct Rebel in Venez

BOGOTÁ, Colombia, Jan. 12, (AP) - Colombia's defense minister acknowledged Wednesday that the government paid bounty hunters to seize a Marxist rebel from neighboring Venezuela, a kidnapping that has soured ties between the countries.

PUTIN AND ISRAEL

By JPOST.COM STAFF

CUBA AND VENEZUELA PROMOTE ALTERNATIVE LATIN AMERICAN PACT

Petrochemical delegation to visit Venezuela next week

ARGENTINA v IMF

Argentina Urges Bondholders to Participate in Default Debt Swap
Andrew J. Barden in Buenos Aires

Colombia lying about rebel leader kidnap - Chavez

Source: Reuters
By Patrick Markey

Statoil drills Venezuela well

Spate of investments in Venezuela's hydrocarbon sector predicted for 2005

Venpres (Wendy Beltrán)

According to Venezuelan Association of Hydrocarbons (AVHI) president Luis Xavier Grisanti, there are numerous expectations for the oil sector to expand, face with numerous plans to be put in motion in the course of the year.

Terrorist Threat in the Tri-Border Area: Myth or Reality?

Latin America's Tri-Border Area (TBA), bounded
by Puerto Iguazu, Argentina; Ciudad del Este,
Paraguay; and Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, is an ideal
breeding ground for terrorist groups. The TBA
is a lawless area of illicit activities that
generate billions of dollars annually in money
laundering, arms and drug trafficking, counterfeiting,
document falsification, and piracy. The TBA offers
terrorists potential financing; access to illegal weapons
and advanced technologies; easy movement and concealment;
and a sympathetic population from which to recruit new
members and spread global messages. While the TBA is
not currently the center of gravity in the Global War on
Terrorism (GWOT), it has an important place in the
strategy for combating terrorism.

Venezuela's energy potential to be expanded in ambitious investment projects

The projects will count with the participation of national and international investors. At least more than 50 foreign-based firms are now operating in the country.

The New Year's Military-Civilian Uprising in Peru

By Al Giordano,
Posted on Sun Jan 2nd, 2005 at 08:33:23 PM EST
"We may be through with the past but the past is not through with us."
- Ricky Jay (from the film "Magnolia")


Army reservists seize Peru police station

The group, led by retired army Maj. Antauro Humala, has demanded the resignation of President Alejandro Toledo.

Humala said in a radio interview Toledo was selling out to foreign investors and he called for an end to inflows of capital from neighboring Chile.

He also said his brother, Ollanta Humala, who led a military revolt against former President Alberto Fujimori in 2000, was to join the uprising.

Suspected rebels massacre 16 in Colombia

By CARLOS GONZALEZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

The massacre came the same day that President Alvaro Uribe took the unprecedented step of extraditing a top FARC commander to the United States on drug trafficking and terrorism charges, raising fears of reprisal attacks.

Chavez seals strategic alliance with Beijing

Oil in Gulf of Mexico Cuban waters

Mercosur
Monday, 27 December

Venezuela's “Bolivarian Revolution” Continues, Despite U.S. Resistance

By: Gregory Wilpert - Venezuelanalysis.com

Venezuela’s Chavez wants to reduce dependence on U.S., promises China more oil and gas

President Hugo Chavez said Dec. 24 that Venezuela will give Beijing greater access to its oil reserves to reduce his country’s dependence on sales to the United States. Chavez said agreements signed Dec. 23 on the first day of his visit to China will give Chinese oil companies access to 15 oil-prod....

Colombia's Privatized Conflict

by Hernando Calvo

[Translated from an article in Le Monde Diplomatique by Colombia Support Network's translator Sharon Bagatelle]

Venezuela, Iran to sign cooperative agreements

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
A series of cooperative agreements will provide Venezuela with "plants, machinery and technology," Iranian Vice Minister of Industry Valiallah Afkhami told reporters after a meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Kirchener v. the IMF

Argentina Squares Off with International Financiers
By ROGER BURBACH

Venezuela: The Next Cuba

By Paul Crespo
FrontPageMagazine.com | March 3, 2004

Colombia Issues Ultimatum to FARC Rebels

Venezuela's oil output to rise 66% in 5 years

Economic investment between Israel and Venezuela on the rise

Cohen said that Israeli exports to Venezuela, especially in the telecommunications area, had risen by 85% between the months of January and September compared to 2003, while Venezuelan oil exports to Israel had increased by 500% during the same period of last year.

China Backs Iran Against The Great Satan

Combine China's recent Iranian energy mega-deal with
Vladimir Putin's new strategic coalition, which includes
nuclear-capable Brazil, and it rapidly becomes clear that
New York's "Fortress Americas" fallback initiative is
already dead in the water.

Venezuela Agrees to Export Oil and Gas to China

President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela wrapped up a four-day visit to China on Sunday with agreements that promise to open Venezuela's oil and natural gas fields to China.

CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO HIGHLIGHTS AGREEMENTS WITH VENEZUELA AND BRAZIL

Venezuela Probes Capture of Top Colombian Rebel

"We're investigating whether this person was really detained in Cucuta, or, as some Colombian media say, in Caracas," Chacon told a news conference.

"If it was in Cucuta, there's no problem. But if it was in Venezuela, then we have a serious problem," he added.

Colombia- A Shill (proxy) Country For Us Intervention In Venezuela

Introduction

In a previous publication we discussed US attempts to topple president Hugo Chavez of Venezuela through various agencies within the country, aided and abetted by external (US) monetary and organizational support [1]. In the past few years one coup de etat by the Venezuelan military, four general strikes to disrupt its economy and a Recall Referendum on August 15, 2004, which allows a President to be removed from his /her office after mid-term, have failed. Now the imperialist forces are left with few avenues of toppling him. One of them is a military intervention, on some excuses(s) and through a shill or proxy country. But what excuses and which country? The two most likely ones are “war on terrorism (counterinsurgency) and war on drugs”; and the country likely to spearhead the military intervention is Colombia-a neighbor of Venezuela, struggling to defeat its own internal Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, and others) who control a considerable part of Colombia. (See below).

To date Colombia has received the largest amount of US military aid in Latin America. The aid has grown ten-fold since 1995. Since 2003 there are 800 US military trainers and 600 civilian contractors. The US has provided $3 billion in military aid to Colombian in the past three years [2A] . An armada of 60 US made Huey II and Blackhawk attack helicopters are the main weapons bought for quick deployment of Colombian troops in FARC controlled southern Colombia to provide security for the planes doing aerial spraying of drug crops (coca plants) [3]. To protect the pipelines owned by the US-based Occidental Petroleum in Arauca department (province) on the land of indigenous U’wa tribe, a $98 million aid was given in 2002 for the purchase of 12 surveillance and attack helicopters. Occidental has spent years lobbying for military assistance to Colombia [4]. In July 2002 another $35 million was allocated for operation in Peru and areas of Paraguay, Argentine and Brazil where drug smugglers presumably operate [5].

Strong Evidence of U.S. Media Imbalance on Venezuela

One key to understanding how U.S. news media portray the politics of foreign countries concerns who the media rely upon as sources in reports about those countries.

Venezuela will no longer tolerate USA interference; draws the line at oil supply cuts

Bush unable to manage his colonies.

Venezuela considering using Panama pipeline

Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez denied that new agreements signed last week to sell Venezuelan oil to China are part of any strategy to decrease oil exports to the United States, the No. 1 buyer of Venezuelan crude.