Ecuador cuts ties, says slain rebel leader was key in hostage deal
BBC Mar 4, 08 11:35 AM CST
(Newser)
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Colombia has accused Ecuador and Venezuela of cooperating with FARC guerrillas who were trying to buy uranium, the BBC reports, even as Ecuador cut ties with Colombia and Venezuela expelled its diplomats. “FARC is taking big steps in the world of terrorism to become a global aggressor,” said Colombia’s top cop, citing documents found during Saturday’s raid that detailed negotiations for 110 pounds of uranium.
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Ecuador, Venezuela send troops to Colombian borders
CNN Mar 3, 08 9:45 AM CST
(Newser)
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The tension in Latin America deepened last night as a Colombian general charged that Ecuador’s president had ties to a FARC leader killed by Colombian forces Saturday. Ecuador and Venezuela have both mobilized troops to their borders in response to the raid, which they claim took place on Ecuadorean territory. Colombia says its forces, attacking targets in Colombia, merely returned fire when FARC rebels shelled them from about a mile inside Ecuador.
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Venezuelan prez angry after rebel is killed
CNN Mar 2, 08 3:19 PM CST
(Newser)
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Hugo Chavez sent thousands of Venezuelan troops to the Colombian border today after Colombia killed a FARC rebel leader, CNN reports. Chavez accused Colombia of being a US puppet and said Ecuador's border was violated in the attack. "We have to liberate Colombia," said Chavez, who is linked to FARC and tried to negotiate a prisoners-for-hostages trade with it last year.
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Prisoners were politicians, who had been held for more than 6 years
CNN Feb 27, 08 2:56 PM CST
(Newser)
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Colombian FARC rebels today set free four former Colombian legislators who had been held hostage for more than six years. The deal was brokered by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, and three of the four will fly to Caracas to speak with him. The fourth is in poor health and may require immediate medical treatment, reports CNN.
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Wreckage of 46-passenger plane found
Associated Press Feb 22, 08 9:47 AM CST
(Newser)
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Search helicopters today found what was left of the Venezuelan passenger plane that crashed yesterday with 46 people aboard. No survivors were found in the wreckage, which was nestled among the Andes mountains at an altitude of 13,000 feet, the AP reports. The plane crashed into the mountain head-first, said one Venezuelan general in the civil aeronautical institute.
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Caracas-bound turboprop went missing after takeoff; no word on casualties
Reuters Feb 21, 08 9:40 PM CST
(Newser)
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A plane crashed in western Venezuela with 46 people aboard today, AFP reports. Air traffic controllers lost contact with the airliner soon after it took off from the Andean city of Merida bound for Caracas. People in the mountainous Coyado del Condor region reported seeing a plane go down. Merida's head of civil defense said search-and-rescue teams were on the way.
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If Exxon wins court action seeking assets, Chavez vows revenge
Associated Press Feb 11, 08 3:00 AM CST
(Newser)
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is threatening to cut off US oil supplies if Exxon Mobil wins a court ruling to seize billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets, AP reports. The Texas-based oil giant has challenged Venezuela’s efforts to nationalize a multi-billion-dollar oil project, and the fiery leader promised an "economic war" if a decision goes against his nation. A British court has already frozen some $12 billion in assets.
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Crime is up, the economy is underperforming
New York Times Feb 9, 08 5:04 PM CST
(Newser)
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Hugo Chavez’s once unshakable authority is finally on the wane in Venezuela, the New York Times reports. After 10 years in office, Chavez is still pushing hard for his socialist vision, but the people are more concerned with rampant crime and an economy that’s in trouble, despite loads of oil revenue. “Chavez’s revolution has stalled,” concluded one political scientist.
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FARC guerrillas run cocaine through Venezuela
Guardian (UK) Feb 3, 08 2:19 PM CST
(Newser)
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Hugo Chavez recently grabbed headlines by brokering the release of two women held hostage by FARC, Colombia's guerrilla rebels. But Chavez was no neutral mediator: FARC operates openly in Venezuela, and even hand-in-hand with government agencies, both to wage war in Colombia and smuggle Colombian cocaine into Europe, the Guardian reports.
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Cuban exodus echoed in flight north from prez's socialist agenda
New York Times Jan 23, 08 2:27 PM CST
(Newser)
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Like Cubans fleeing Castro, Venezuelans leery of their country's future under socialist President Hugo Chavez are hightailing it to the US—mainly Florida. Venezuelan expats are raising kids, investing money, and opening businesses in South Florida, the New York Times reports. Asked about returning to Venezuela, “I won’t consider it, as long as there’s that guy there," replies one new Floridian.
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Remaining hostages reveal life chained by neck and suffering from jungle fevers
Associated Press Jan 17, 08 9:53 AM CST
(Newser)
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Eight captives left behind with Colombian rebels describe a miserable existence chained by the neck and suffering excruciating diseases in letters carried out last week by two freed hostages. One weakened captive, a police officer, describes "dragging myself " through the jungle "with only my arms because I couldn't stand up." A man he has been chained to could "die any moment" because parasites have infected his brain, he writes.
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Venezuela, Brazil lead weapons spending spree
Christian Science Monitor Jan 16, 08 12:33 PM CST
(Newser)
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Recent bursts of defense spending from Brazil and Venezuela have experts wondering if Latin America—decades removed from a war between nations—has entered an arms race, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Chile has also invested in weapons recently, and Colombia is rife with war-on-drugs firepower. “There is a real risk of it escalating,” one expert said. “There is tremendous mistrust between countries.”
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UPDATED
Chavez receives pair at presidential palace
CNN Jan 10, 08 9:25 PM CST
(Newser)
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Two freed hostages are back with their families tonight after years of captivity in the Colombian jungle, CNN reports. "We are being reborn!" said Clara Rojas as she was reunited with her elderly mother in Venezuela. "This is like living again," said her fellow former hostage, Consuelo Gonzalez. "Sometimes I think it's a dream."
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