Argentine Prez Campaign Cash Tied to Chavez

Businessman was Chávez agent, jury says

(NEWSER) - The international political funding scandal known as Suitcasegate took a new, diplomatically fraught turn yesterday when a Miami court convicted a businessman of conspiracy and of acting as an "unregistered agent" of the Venezuelan government. The trial concerns a suitcase filled with $800,000 that was intercepted in Buenos Aires. The US alleges the money was being funneled from Hugo Chávez to Argentina's president, Cristina Kirchner, during her election campaign. More»

Relations grow icier as Kirchner drifts toward Chavez

(NEWSER) - Condoleezza Rice has embarked on a visit to Brazil and Chile, but the secretary of State won’t be stopping in neighboring Argentina, a sign of ever-frostier relations. “The United States is clearly snubbing Argentina,” one expert tells the New York Times. New Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has worsened already-sour relations by strengthening ties with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. More»

Bill giving gay couples equal rights is a Latin American first

(NEWSER) - Argentina has become the first Latin American country to give same-sex couples all the rights of straight ones. A bill legalizing gay marriage has passed the country's Senate and President Cristina Kirchner has promised to sign it into law, CNN reports. Supporters and opponents of the law jostled outside during the marathon 14-hour debate. More»

Venezuela shutting down the links—that happen to be near oil

(NEWSER) - Hugo Chávez has gone after oil conglomerates and media companies, and now he's hitting the capitalist pigs where it hurts: at the golf course. The Venezuelan president is trying to shut down the country's best-known courses, which he believes are part of an anti-Marxist conspiracy, the Independent reports. "Let's leave this clear," he said on his long-running personal TV show, "golf is a bourgeois sport." More»

(AP) - Honduras' ousted president, bolstered by international support, said he will return home to regain control and urged soldiers to stop cracking down on thousands of supporters who have protested his overthrow. Flanked by Latin American leaders who have vowed to help him regain power, Manuel Zelaya said yesterday he would accept an offer by the OAS secretary-general to accompany him back to Honduras. More»