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Venezuela's Chavez sees US threat in Dutch islands

Cesar — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:06:06 +0000

Hugo Chavez accused the Netherlands on Thursday of allowing the United States to use Dutch islands off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast to prepare a possible military attack against his country.

The Venezuelan leader said the U.S. military, to prepare for a possible offensive, has sent intelligence agents, war ships and spy planes to Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire, which are self-governing Dutch islands.

“They are three islands in Venezuela’s territorial waters, but they are still under an imperial regime: the Netherlands,” Chavez said during a speech at a climate change conference in Denmark. “Europe should know that the North American empire is filling these islands with weapons, assassins, American intelligence units, and spy planes and war ships.”

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly denied that U.S. military personnel in the Caribbean are planning to attack Venezuela.

“These allegations are baseless. These are routine exercises. We seek cooperation with the region,” Kelly said.

Venezuela rations water in response to drought

Cesar — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:52:22 +0000

Residents of the Venezuelan capital on Monday began to experience water rationing as part of a government preservation measure during a drought.

The rolling cuts to water service will affect the capital of Caracas and some nearby areas for periods of up to 48 hours, the state-owned water utility Hidrocapital announced. The rationing will continue through the first quarter of 2010, the government said.

President Hugo Chavez has urged citizens to take extra steps to reduce water use, including a suggestion last week that taking a shower should take only three minutes.

For Brazil, Olympic Bid Is About Global Role

Cesar — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:07:25 +0000

On shimmering Copacabana beach, where Rio’s body-conscious residents play volleyball and soccer, giant screens are being readied for a live broadcast of the vote that will determine whether this city will make history by becoming the first South...

Chavez invites intellectual opponents to debate

Cesar — Sat, 30 May 2009 07:20:35 +0000

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday backed away from a direct debate with prominent critics a day after he invited Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa and other Latin American intellectuals to join him on live television this weekend.

On Thursday, Chavez said he would be willing to join a group of left-wing intellectuals in a debate with his critics on Saturday at the presidential palace during his program “Hello President.”

But Friday night, he said he would probably moderate, not participate in the debate.

“Seriously, gentlemen of the right: ‘Hello President,’ which happens to be commemorating its 10th anniversary, opens its doors to debate,” Chavez said during the second day of a marathon four-day edition of his program. “Come. You’ll be respected.”

4 paparazzi arrested in West Hollywood

Cesar — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 08:52:43 +0000

The price of chasing Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and other nightclub-hopping celebrities got steeper this week, at least for four paparazzi who were booked on charges arising from blocking sidewalks in West Hollywood.

The arrests, made by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies Tuesday night and early Wednesday, continued law enforcement efforts to crack down on aggressive paparazzi in the weeks since Spears was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. So many photographers, celebrity reporters and onlookers crowded the scene last month that patients and hospital staffers had trouble getting into the facility.

The intense scene led Los Angeles Police Department and sheriff’s officials to say they planned to use existing laws to crack down on what they described as increasingly aggressive paparazzi.