Venezuela's Chavez launches new police force

President Hugo Chavez launched a federal police force on Sunday that he hopes will change the overwhelmingly negative image most Venezuelans have of their public security forces while reducing crime in one of Latin America's most violent countries. Complete Story...

1

2

Colombia to Chavez: Maybe 'spy plane' was Santa

Colombia's defense chief joked Monday that Venezuelan troops might have mistaken Santa's sleigh for a spy plane, dismissing accusations by President Hugo Chavez about drones flying over Venezuela.

1

2

Singer Oscar D'Leon recovers from heart attack

Internationally renowned salsa singer Oscar D'Leon is recovering from a heart attack he suffered during a visit to Venezuela.

0

0

Chavez wants to rename world's tallest waterfall

President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that the world's tallest waterfall has been called Angel Falls too long and should revert to its original indigenous name instead of commemorating the U.S. pilot who spotted it in 1933.

3

7

Chavez: US spy plane violated Venezuela's airspace

President Hugo Chavez on Sunday accused the U.S. of violating Venezuela's airspace with an unmanned spy plane, and ordered his military to be on alert and shoot down any such aircraft in the future.

1

7

Dutch deny Venezuela's claim of US attack plans

The Dutch government denied Friday that it is allowing the United States to use Caribbean islands to prepare a possible military attack against Venezuela as that country's president contends.

2

1

Venezuela's Chavez sees US threat in Dutch islands

Hugo Chavez accused the Netherlands on Thursday of allowing the United States to use Dutch islands off Venezuela's Caribbean coast to prepare a possible military attack against his country.

11

16

Venezuela assembly launches its own radio station

Lawmakers loyal to President Hugo Chavez inaugurated a state-run radio station Tuesday that replaces a previous broadcaster that sandwiched criticism of Venezuela's socialist leader between jazz and salsa music.

0

0

Jailing of judge provokes debate in Venezuela

A Venezuelan judge is in jail on charges of corruption and abuse of power for freeing a high-profile banker, and an angry President Hugo Chavez has demanded she be kept in a cell for the maximum sentence — 30 years.

0

0

Venezuela detains 2 in student's slaying

Two suspects have been detained in the killing of a university student whose death during a demonstration sparked protests by fellow students across Venezuela, authorities said Friday.

0

0

Leftists form Latin America regional movement

Hundreds of leftists gathered in Venezuela's capital have set plans for a regional movement in Latin America and are expressing support for insurgent groups like the rebels in Colombia.

0

0

Venezuelans protest killing of college student

Hundreds of university students held protests in Venezuela on Wednesday to condemn the fatal shooting of an undergraduate during a demonstration earlier this week.

0

0

Chavez opponent faces graft charges

A Venezuelan court has issued a warrant for the arrest of an ally-turned-critic of President Hugo Chavez.

0

1

Students end hunger strike in Venezuela

A group of college students ended a hunger strike after 17 days following a meeting Tuesday with Organization of American States representatives to air their concerns about human rights in Venezuela.

2

1

Venezuela AG says Chavez opponent violated asylum

Venezuela's attorney general contends exiled opposition leader Manuel Rosales has violated his asylum in Peru by speaking out in Washington about Venezuelan issues.

0

0

Chavez: Venezuela acquires thousands of missiles

President Hugo Chavez said Monday that Venezuela has received thousands of Russian-made missiles and rocket launchers as part of his government's military preparations for a possible armed conflict with neighboring Colombia.

23

165

Venezuela turns to cloud-seeding to battle drought

Hugo Chavez says he is starting to "bombard" clouds now that Cuba has provided Venezuela with cloud-seeding help in an effort to produce rain and alleviate the effects of a severe drought.

0

0

Abbas says Israeli settlement freeze not enough

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas dismissed an Israeli plan to halt new construction of West Bank settlements as insufficient on Friday, saying it won't be enough to restart peace talks.

6

5

Judge orders Chavez opponent to stay in prison

A Venezuelan court has ordered an opponent of President Hugo Chavez to remain in prison while awaiting trial on charges of injuring a police officer during a protest.

2

1

Venezuela to get 300 tanks, armored vehicles

President Hugo Chavez is hailing the forthcoming arrival of 300 Russian-made tanks and armored vehicles, and urging civilians to join government-organized militias to be ready to defend Venezuela from a foreign invasion.

2

2

Ugandans upset over Chavez' kind words for Amin

Ugandan officials were offended Sunday after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wondered out loud whether Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was truly as brutal as he was reputed to be.

1

1

Hugo Chavez invites Fidel Castro to Venezuela

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is inviting his mentor Fidel Castro to visit Venezuela during the coming months.

1

1

Venezuela: No direct talks with Colombia on bases

Venezuela has no interest in talking directly to Colombia to end a monthslong crisis but would support an effort by other South American nations to broker a solution, a top government official said Sunday.

2

2

Chavez praises alleged terrorist Carlos the Jackal

President Hugo Chavez is praising Carlos the Jackal, the imprisoned Venezuelan once notorious for a series of Cold War-era bombings, assassinations and hostage dramas, saying he was a "revolutionary fighter" and not a terrorist.

1

1

Hugo Chavez invites Fidel Castro to trade summit

President Hugo Chavez is inviting former Cuban leader Fidel Castro to next month's meeting of the regional ALBA trade bloc being held in Havana.

0

0

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez revealed today on his Sunday television and radio program, Aló Presidente, that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, have illegally entered Venezuela's airspace during the past several days.

10

19

President Hugo Chavez accuses the U.S. of violating Venezuela's airspace with an unmanned spy plane, and ordered his military to shoot down any such aircraft in the future.

11

111

Who shall make these important determinations? Should it be the U.N? Can the world trust a "body of dilopmats" from around the world who, while in the process of gathering to set policies that restrain others' freedom and that re-distribute others' wealth, nonetheless the …

3

2

The Colombian government has announced it is building a new military base on its border with Venezuela and has activated six new airborne battalions.

11

39

The increasingly close links between Iran and Venezuela are ominous:

2

0

Erich Pica, president , Friends of the Earth (USA): "climate negotiations in Copenhagen have yielded a sham agreement ... This is not a strong deal or a just one -- it isn't even a real one. It's just repackaging old and pretending"

4

2

Here's one from the Department of "We Are The World": Hugo Chávez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will address the UN's climate summit in Copenhagen.

1

0

Cuba's President Raul Castro and Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez have criticised the US during a key alternative trade summit in Havana.

1

0

This isn't the first time North Korea has lived up to its reputation as part of the "Axis of Evil" – a phrase made popular by George W.

1

0

Iranian Prime Minister Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe plan to address negotiators at international climate talks in Copenhagen next week.

1

0

Iranian President Ahmadinejad has been traveling, looking for someone who would recognize him as the legitimate head of government. Most Iranians certainly don't, and his stock is pretty low in his own region.

4

2

Unless something monumental happens in the Western Hemisphere in the next 31 days, the big regional story for 2009 will be how tiny Honduras managed to beat back the colonial aspirations of its most powerful neighbors and preserve its constitution.

2

0

CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) -- Venezuela will take delivery in 2010 of the first six of 18 K-8 Karakorum trainer or light attack planes it bought from China, the Air Force's top commander said Friday.

2

3

In a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday night, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused Israel of aiming to "exterminate" the Palestinians.

1

1

Ever so insidiously in just a year, with the best intentions, the President, driven by narcissism, fueled by post-Enlightenment ignorance, is undermining old-fashioned deterrence.

2

0

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has defended jailed killer "Carlos the Jackal" and several world leaders he says are wrongly considered "bad guys". In a speech to international socialist politicians, Mr Chavez said "Carlos", a Venezuelan, was not a terrorist but a key "revoluti …

3

2

President Hugo Chavez is hailing the forthcoming arrival of 300 Russian-made tanks and armored vehicles, and urging civilians to join government-organized militias.

7

21

Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva has issued a maximum security alert along the Colombian-Venezuelan border after a meeting today with Colombia's national security council.

1

3

The UN is investigating the crash in the Sahara desert of a cargo plane, which is thought to have been carrying cocaine from Venezuela.

1

1

CARACAS, Venezuela - Call it the Bolivarian battle of the bulge. President Hugo Chavez said in a televised speech Friday that "there are lots of fat people" in Venezuela and advised his supporters to exercise and eat healthy to trim their waistlines.

4

5

In a country that has claimed the world's biggest oil reserves and is home to its fourth-mightiest river, the Orinoco, has recently been forced to ration both water and electricity.

4

4

HC re Gaza: "The question is not whether the Israelis want to exterminate the Palestinians. They're doing it openly ...What was it if not genocide? ... The Israelis were looking for an excuse to exterminate the Palestinians."

12

22

Penn may shoot a film based on a novel by Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier, which is set largely in the jungle along Venezuela's southern Orinoco river, Chavez said.

0

1

"Every day I am more convinced that socialism is the kingdom of God here on earth," he said. "Every day I'm more revolutionary, more socialist every day," he said. "I'm taking Venezuela toward socialism, the people and workers."

1

1

Venezuela's defense minister said that 10 killings near the border with Colombia may be the work of warring factions in that country, and said Venezuelan troops are stepping up security.

1

10