Hugo Chavez

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Polo Horses' Owner Also Mysterious

(Newser) - Exactly what killed 21 polo horses in Florida is not known, but details of their enigmatic owner are emerging in spades. Victor Vargas has succeeded at the tricky proposition of banking in Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela, and tried the US market—with less-than-stellar results. In 1993, he had to settle...

Penn: Rush, Cheney 'Among Greatest Cowards' Ever
Penn: Rush, Cheney 'Among Greatest Cowards' Ever
opinion
Apr 21, 2009 10:14 PM CDT

Penn: Rush, Cheney 'Among Greatest Cowards' Ever

(Newser) - Sean Penn is a little agitated about all the abuse President Obama is taking for shaking hands with Hugo Chavez. It's nothing but the "posturing of our nation's most bitter and humanly impotent voices," he writes in the Huffington Post. Obama should have been tougher goes the refrain...

Hugo's Gift Keeps on Selling

Volume on colonial oppression becomes overnight best-seller

(Newser) - Hugo Chavez has done for a book on the exploitation of Latin America what Bo did for Portuguese water dogs, the BBC reports. Eduardo Galeano’s Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent has gone from 54,295th to second on Amazon’s sales...

Obama Defends Handshake, Urges Cuba to Free Prisoners

Bolivian prez accuses US of assassination plot

(Newser) - President Obama defended his friendly chat with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and asked Cuba to free its political prisoners, the Wall Street Journal reports. At the close of the Summit of the America's today, Obama brushed off Republican criticism, saying that turning a new page with Venezuela and Cuba represents...

Chavez Reappoints Ambassador to US
Chavez Reappoints
Ambassador to US
Apr 19, 2009 4:30 AM CDT

Chavez Reappoints Ambassador to US

Venezuelan president looks to better relationship with Obama

(Newser) - Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has reappointed an ambassador to the US, reports the Wall Street Journal. Pending approval from Washington, the post will be the first exchange of diplomats between the two countries since Venezuela ejected its American ambassador last year in solidarity with Bolivia. The move is yet another...

Latin Leaders Praise Obama on Cuba, Press for More

(Newser) - Latin American and Caribbean leaders praised President Obama today for reaching out to Cuba and urged him to end America's trade embargo with the communist nation, Reuters reports. After Brazil, Venezuela, and Caribbean nations applauded Obama's call for a "new beginning with Cuba" at a summit in Port...

Chavez Gives Obama Book —on Colonial Oppression

(Newser) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gave President Obama a Spanish-language book today about the historical ravages visited on Latin America by colonial powers, Politico reports. The English title of the 1971 book by Eduardo Galeano is The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent. The...

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...

Chilly Reception Awaits Obama at Summit

Odds are, summit will be full of awkward moments

(Newser) - President Obama got a warm welcome on his recent Europe trip, but he shouldn't expect the same from Latin America, the Washington Post reports. At the upcoming Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, the new president is likely to face some tough questions, and potentially awkward moments, as...

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...

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...

Fidel Spotted Strolling Around Havana

Residents see frail Comadante in public for first time in years

(Newser) - Residents of Havana say they’ve spotted the unmistakable figure of El Comadante shuffling around the city in recent weeks, the New York Times reports. Fidel Castro hasn’t been seen in public since undergoing emergency surgery in 2006, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hailed the jaunts as "a...

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,...

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...

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