Ecuador Wants Apology on FARC; US Backs Bogota

(NEWSER) - Despite frequent denials by President Hugo Chavez, it seems Venezuela is still arming Colombian rebels on the sly, the New York Times reports. Computer files captured from FARC rebels reveal Venezuela's efforts to get them missiles, sniper rifles, radios, and Venezuelan identity cards. This after Chavez froze relations with Colombia last year, fuming over accusations that Venezuela was arming rebels with rocket launchers. More»

(NEWSER) - Not all foreign leaders prefer Barack Obama to George W. Bush. Joshua Keating of Foreign Policy lists five heads of state who probably miss Dubya:

• Silvio Berlusconi. "The conservative Christian from Texas and the lecherous billionaire" were good buddies; Bush hosted the Italian president often at his ranch and declined to call him out on his personal indiscretions.
• Benjamin Netanyahu. Bush gave Israel almost unconditional support and, according to the PM, tacitly agreed to allow the “natural growth” of existing settlements in the West Bank—something the Obama administration disputes.

Bolivia, Ecuador latest to repudiate US anti-drug operations

(NEWSER) - Some Latin American countries are pushing back against the US by cutting off DEA operations, the Christian Science Monitor reports. President Evo Morales, saying DEA agents "worked to conduct political espionage," gave them 3 months to leave Bolivia. Ecuador, meanwhile, has refused to renew the US lease on a key airbase, which an American official says creates a "serious gap" in drug-interdiction operations. More»

But Venezuelan leader receives steadying advice from Castro

(NEWSER) - With the US distracted by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been busy amassing a Latin American power bloc to blunt Washington’s influence. But the firebrand leader, who calls President Bush “the devil” and the US “the empire,” is receiving level-headed advice from none other than Fidel Castro, writes Jon Lee Anderson in a New Yorker profile. More»

As international cause, Colombian hostage is valuable to rebels

(NEWSER) - The daughter of a beauty queen and a diplomat who once enjoyed a charmed existence in fashionable Parisian quarters, Ingrid Betancourt is now a hostage in a Colombian jungle who is sometimes chained by the neck to a tree. The Wall Street Journal profiles the plight of the former Colombian presidential candidate, who was kidnapped in 2002 by rebels. More»