XML FeedsCategory: General
Chavez urges 3-minute showers to conserve water
By Other Sources on 22 Oct, 2009
Reuters CARACAS (Reuters) - Leftist President Hugo Chavez called on Venezuelans on Wednesday to stop singing in the shower and to wash in three minutes because the oil-exporting nation is having problems supplying water and electricity. Venezuela has suffered several serious blackouts in the past year because of rapidly growing demand and under-investment, which has been aggravated by a drop in water levels in hydroelectric dams that provide most of its energy. Chavez announced energy-saving measures and said he would create a ministry to deal with the electricity shortages, which have affected the image of his socialist revolution before legislative elections due in 2010... more »
Advocates Appeal to Brazil on Venezuela's Political Prisoners and Mercosur
By Other Sources on 21 Oct, 2009
Representatives for political prisoner Eligio Cedeno visit Brazil to raise awarenessSAO PAULO, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Representatives of the Venezuelan political prisoner Eligio Cedeno are visiting Sao Paulo and Brasilia this week to seek urgent support against the ongoing abuses of human rights and political persecution by the Venezuelan government. The situation for Cedeno, who is just one of dozens of high profile political prisoners in the country, is currently in legal limbo, as an appeals court of the Supreme Court of Justice has ordered his immediate release while the 38th control court has so far refused to fulfill its legal obligation to execute the order."Brazil is a prestigious and respected regional leader, and part of theresponsibility of this role is the defense of basic, universal rights," said Robert Amsterdam, international lawyer for Cedeno. "Right now we are witnessing the Venezuelan government's open interference in the judicial process, which poses enormous risks to Brazil as Venezuela's ascension to Mercosur is under consideration."... more »
Doubt over Chávez's cure for ailing health system
By Other Sources on 18 Oct, 2009
By Benedict Mander in Caracas Financial Times UKPublished: October 16 2009 03:00 | Last updated: October 16 2009 03:00Hugo Chávez looked puzzled when, on one of his recent Sunday television shows, he listened to a guest's account of her sister's nightmarish experience trying to find somewhere to give birth in Caracas.While in labour, she was bandied about from hospital to hospital, repeatedly rejected because of a lack of beds and doctors. Incredulous, the Venezuelan president asked: "Who is responsible for this?"Many Venezuelans place the blame squarely on Mr Chávez's shoulders. They see this increasingly common phenomenon - known as "the runaround" - as symptomatic of the crumbling decay of the oil-rich country's public hospitals after years of neglect... more »
“Venezuela Russophiles”
By Ana Julia Jatar on 22 Sep, 2009
Venezuela and Russia have mutual interests in the former's arms build-up and in energy dealsVenezuela continues to deepen its diplomatic and economic relations with Russia, as evidenced by President Hugo Chávez's recent visit--his eighth--to Moscow. Agreements were signed in the areas of trade and energy, with an arms deal getting the most attention. The motives behind the relationship are in part political, with Venezuela seeking to strengthen its hand against the US and offset its influence in Latin America, and Russia interested in expanding its presence in the region. But the two countries are also linked as major global energy producers with mutual interests in expanding co-operation in this area.The latest arms deal involves the purchase of 92 T-72S tanks, Smerch missiles with a range of 90 km and an advanced anti-aircraft defence system including radar and missiles with a range of 400 km, according to announcements by Mr Chávez made on September 13th. The Russian government will provide a credit line of US $2.2bn to finance the acquisition... more »
Elected Tyrants
By Ana Julia Jatar on 4 Jul, 2009
The Organization of American States was originally founded to defend democracy across our hemisphere. It has now instead become a refuge for elected presidents who choose to abuse their power. This syndicate is now in the misguided business of defending victimized presidents from supposed ‘gorillas’, instead of preventing them from becoming elected tyrants in the first place. These elected tyrants conveniently forget that ‘the majority’ is not their sole constituency, and thus should be specially subjected to the limits that the constitution and other institutional checks and balances place on them. In other words, the OAS is reacting to the symptoms instead of understanding the disease... more »
In Venezuela, 'People Are Terrified'
By Ana Julia Jatar on 6 Feb, 2009
The Jewish Weekby Stewart Ain and Sharon UdasinStaff WritersThe crisis in Venezuela deepened this week in the aftermath of the beating of a rabbi, Friday's attack on a synagogue and the growing exodus of Israelis from Caracas. All of this comes a month after Venezuela expelled Israel's ambassador and the embassy's staff because of Israel's offensive in Gaza. In New York Monday, more than 150 demonstrators shouting "Never Again" rallied outside the Venezuelan Consulate to protest the country's failure to protect its Jewish citizens.And in a letter this week to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez signed by 19 members of Congress, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-Bronx), the letter's co-author, expressed fear that the synagogue attack could lead to more Jews fleeing Chavez's hard-line rule. "It's difficult for me to say it was not government-instigated because nothing was stolen ... except the hard drives from the computers," Rabbi Isidoro Aizenberg, a former pulpit rabbi in Caracas who now lives in the U.S., said of the vandalism at Caracas' oldest synagogue. "I tremble when I say it." more »
Human Rights Watch Report on Venezuela
By Ana Julia Jatar on 26 Sep, 2008
To see the Human Rights Watch Report on Venezuela please go to the following link:http://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/venezuela0908/ more »
Venezuela: looking ahead by Thomas Shannon
By Ana Julia Jatar on 19 Jul, 2008
From our point of view, the Venezuela Government has added a needless and complicating ideological overlay to a relationship that was characterized historically by fluid and productive dialogue. This has made it difficult to address bilaterally our concerns about the Government of Venezuela’s behavior. more »
My CV
By Ana Julia Jatar on 24 Jun, 2008
This is my curriculum vitae for those who have been showing interest in my professional history. more »
Check this blog...
By Ana Julia Jatar on 13 May, 2008
The blogger (who shall hopefully remain anonymous) behind www.caracasgringo.blogspot.com/ is a well-known reporter who's spent much of the last five years getting to the bottom of the events of April 11-13, 2002... more »
Las elecciones primarias fueron sin duda un gran éxito para la oposición. Felicitaciones a todos los candidatos y a todos los votantes que expresaron su opinión con su voto en las urnas. A través de un complejo proceso de negociación política estamos en capacidad de presentar una lista única de
Luego de haber escuchado las declaraciones por las cuales fueron arrestados Oswaldo Alvarez Paz, ex gobernador del Zulia y Guillermo Zuloaga, Presidente de Globovisión, esta clarísimo que bien podríamos ser usted o yo los próximos tras las rejas. En sus declaraciones en la SIP, Zuloaga criticó el ventajismo estatal y
