Hugo Chavez

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Crisis Deepens as Colombia Links Ecuador to FARC

Ecuador, Venezuela send troops to Colombian borders

(Newser) - 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...

Chavez Sends Troops to Colombian Border

Venezuelan prez angry after rebel is killed

(Newser) - 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...

FARC Hostage Near Death in Jungle
FARC Hostage Near Death
in Jungle
Feb 28, 2008 8:21 PM CST

FARC Hostage Near Death in Jungle

Former presidential candidate gravely ill, says released captive

(Newser) - A high-profile hostage still held by Colombian rebels is near death because of mistreatment and a lack of medicine, a former fellow captive said today. Ingrid Betancourt, seized by FARC rebels six years ago while campaigning for the presidency, is sick with hepatitis and liver problems, says Luis Eladio Perez,...

FARC Rebels Free 4 Hostages
FARC Rebels Free 4 Hostages
Feb 27, 2008 2:56 PM CST

FARC Rebels Free 4 Hostages

Prisoners were politicians, who had been held for more than 6 years

(Newser) - 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...

Venezuelan Prez Threatens to Cut Off US Oil

If Exxon wins court action seeking assets, Chavez vows revenge

(Newser) - 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...

Venezuela Slowly Turning Against Chavez

Crime is up, the economy is underperforming

(Newser) - 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...

Chavez Linked to Columbian Drug Trade

FARC guerrillas run cocaine through Venezuela

(Newser) - 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 ...

Colombia's FARC to Free 3 More Hostages

Health reasons, Chavez's diplomatic role cited in release

(Newser) - Colombia’s FARC rebel group will release three lawmakers for health reasons after more than 6 years in captivity, the BBC reports. Taking a pointed side in the dispute between Hugo Chavez and Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, the rebels said in a statement to local media that they were releasing...

Chavez Turning Florida Into Lil' Venezuela

Cuban exodus echoed in flight north from prez's socialist agenda

(Newser) - 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...

Letters Bare Misery of Colombian Captives

Remaining hostages reveal life chained by neck and suffering from jungle fevers

(Newser) - 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...

Colombian Hostages Joyfully Return to Families
Colombian Hostages
Joyfully Return to Families
UPDATED
Jan 10, 2008 9:25 PM CST

Colombian Hostages Joyfully Return to Families

Chavez receives pair at presidential palace

(Newser) - 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,...

Inside the $800K Suitcase Scandal
Inside the
$800K Suitcase Scandal
Jan 10, 2008 6:29 PM CST

Inside the $800K Suitcase Scandal

A wealthy Miami man implicates Hugo Chavez in an embarrassing cover-up

(Newser) - At the center of an international scandal linking Argentina, Venezuela, and a suitcase filled with nearly $800,000 in cash is a rotund dual US-Venezuelan citizen who lives in a million-dollar Miami condo and has a fondness for fancy watches and fast cars. Bloomberg takes a closer look at the...

2 Colombian Hostages Freed
2 Colombian Hostages Freed
Jan 10, 2008 11:21 AM CST

2 Colombian Hostages Freed

Red Cross helicopters carrying pair to Caracas

(Newser) - Colombian rebels have released two women hostages, Hugo Chavez said in a press conference today, as Red Cross helicopters were flying the freed Colombians to Caracas. The women, both held in the jungle for years, are Consuelo Gonzalez, a politician, and Clara Rojas, an aide to former presidential candidate Ingrid...

Chavez Shows Supermodel Interviewer His Guns

Supermodel-turned-journo interviews Venezuelan president

(Newser) - Naomi Campbell has found a new calling: political journalism. The phone-flinging supermodel interviewed Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez for British GQ's latest issue, reports the Guardian. When Campbell asked the president if he would ever pose topless à la Vladimir Putin, Chavez replied: "Why not? Touch my muscles?"

Director Rips Bush in Colombia Hostage Drama

Rescue undermined by US, says Stone

(Newser) - Maverick Hollywood director Oliver Stone had a front-row seat on the scene of the failed hostage rescue mission in Colombia last month—and has returned blaming that nation's government and President Bush. "Shame on Bush,” Stone told the Guardian. Colombian rebels reneged on a deal to free two...

Rebels Admit They Don't Have Hostage Boy

Farc captive to have been freed in deal was in Bogota foster home

(Newser) - Rebels in Colombia have acknowledged that the 3-year-old boy in foster care in Bogota is Emmanuel, the son of one of the hostages they are holding and the focus of a much-publicized release that fell through last week. Farc rebels had announced the release of Emmanuel, his mother Clara Rojas,...

DNA Tests Show Rebels Don't Have Colombian Boy

Alleged hostage is actually in foster care

(Newser) - DNA tests all but confirmed today that a 3-year-old boy Colombian rebels had pledged to include in a hostage-release deal has actually been in foster care since 2005. The group FARC negotiated the release of Emmanuel Rojas—born to a female hostage and her rebel captor—with Hugo Chavez; the...

Chavez Starts Year With Softer Tone

Humbled Venezuelan president switches focus to litter, crime

(Newser) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has rung in 2008 by shifting focus from instituting his broad vision for a revolutionary socialist state to more concrete problems such as battling crime, cleaning up litter-filled streets, and curbing staggering inflation, Reuters reports. Chavez's change in direction comes after voters failed in December to...

Colombia Prez: Rebels Don't Have Hostage's Love Child

DNA to determine if boy is orphan in custody

(Newser) - Relatives of FARC hostage Clara Rojas yesterday underwent DNA testing to determine whether a boy surrendered to a Bogota orphanage 2 years ago is her 3-year-old son, as Colombian president Alvaro Uribe contends. Uribe yesterday said FARC rebels couldn't release Emmanuel Rojas, along with his mother and another hostage, as...

Colombian Rescue Deal Collapses
Colombian Rescue Deal Collapses
Jan 1, 2008 4:18 AM CST

Colombian Rescue Deal Collapses

Hostages stuck in jungle; guerrillas, army blame each other

(Newser) - A Venezuela-brokered deal to rescue three hostages from Colombian rebels has fallen apart, Reuters reports. The leftist FARC rebels blamed the deal's failure on stepped-up Colombian army operations in the area and refused to relinquish hostages "due to fear for their safety and the safety of members involved in...

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