Chavez has become a hero to many labor groups and political parties who were waving Venezuelan flags with fervor in Argentina. For others, his proposed ALBA is an empty proposal that will be discussed among ´progressive´ political leaders and will not truly empower poor people or change the dominant economic model.
That whirring sound you hear are the spinmeisters of the Bush administration trying to prettify the outcome of the Mar del Plata Summit of the Americas into something suitable for U.S. public consumption. Bush went to Argentina empty-handed and nevertheless wanted to get the Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations, which had basically crashed and burned at a Miami ministerial level meeting two years ago, restarted.
By William M. Arkin - Washingtonpost.com weblog, Nov 3rd 2005
The Pentagon has begun contingency planning for potential military conflict with Venezuela as part of a broad post-Iraq evaluation of strategic threats to the United States. The planning has been precipitated by general and specific directives issued by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his civilian policy assistants.
Venezuela has launched an offensive to forge closer diplomatic ties with Africa, initially focusing on political and cultural questions while leaving the matter of energy cooperation to the future.
By Nikolas Kozloff - Venezuelanalysis.com, Oct 24th 2005
In a move that is surely bound to alienate the United States yet further, Chavez decided to expel an American missionary group, the New Tribes Mission. What was merely a war of words has seemingly escalated into a religious battle. Or has it? What is truly behind Chavez’s decision to expel New Tribes and where is the conflict likely to lead?
The emergence of the new class-conscious National Workers Union (UNT) was made possible by the election of Chavez, who has reshaped the country's political institutions. Workers seized the opportunity which presented itself and have both supported Chavez and taken advantage of freedom to organize they never had before, supported by a two-year-old prohibition against laying off low-wage workers.
By Benjamin Dangl - UpsideDown World, Oct 21st 2005
Preparations for renewed US militarization and intervention in Latin America are underway. To protect its own hegemony and economic interests, the US government is using the threat of terrorism as an excuse for military operations aimed at destabilizing leftist movements and governments and securing natural resources such as oil and gas.
Venezuela President Chavez’s cheap oil deal with Carib welcomed by all – except US. Oil-rich Venezuela is to sell cheap petroleum to 13 Caribbean nations, but while the deal offers much needed protection from crippling energy prices it also threatens to draw these nations into a row between Caracas and Washington.
By Estanislao Oziewicz - The Globe and Mail, Sep 29th 2005
When Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on the weekend that he was going to open the taps on subsidized heating oil for poor folks in the United States, many assumed it was a drive-by comment aimed at raising the ire of his frequent critics in Washington. But, as it turns out, Mr. Chavez is a man of his word.
Vice President Rangel leads a campaign for anti-evangelical vigilance as the Robertson affair reminds him and the nation of the suspect activities of the New Tribes Mission decades ago.
