Venezuela

4 August 2008 -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says 24 Russian Sukhoi fighter jets have been delivered to Venezuela.

Mr. Chavez made the announcement Sunday on his weekly radio program.

The president said the jets are for defensive purposes only against "imperialist" aggressions.

Mr. Chavez has warned the recently reactivated U.S. Fourth Fleet to stay out of Venezuelan waters.

U.S. officials deny Washington has designs on Venezuela.

Source: VOA News

17 June 2008 -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has held talks with former Cuban President Fidel Castro in Havana for what Cuba's state-run media have described as an "animated and warm" meeting. No photos or videos of the meeting were made public.

The Communist Party newspaper, Granma, reported Tuesday that Mr. Chavez and Mr. Castro met for three hours Monday to discuss the world's food, energy and financial crises. Mr. Chavez last traveled to Cuba in March.

President Chavez said Monday that Mr. Castro is "alive and well, thinking, writing and dictating important strategies for Cuba and Latin America. Mr. Chavez also was quoted by the French news agency as saying Mr. Castro's younger brother, Raul Castro, is "at the helm" of the Cuban revolution.    » read more »

12 May 2008 -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accused neighboring Colombia of trying to provoke a war in order to justify a U.S. intervention in Venezuela.

President Chavez made the accusation Sunday during his weekly radio broadcast.

Hugo Chavez: Photo by Bernardo Londoy (CC)

Both Colombia and the United States have dismissed similar statements by Mr. Chavez.

The remarks came days after U.S. intelligence sources said that documents seized by Colombian forces during a raid on FARC, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebels in Ecuador showed Venezuela had deeper ties with the rebels than previously thought.    » read more »

31 March 2008 -- A U.S.-based press freedom organization has criticized Venezuela's growing restrictions on freedom of the press, Cuba's jailing of journalists and U.S. court pressure on reporters to reveal confidential sources.

The Inter American Press Association wrapped up its midyear meeting Sunday in Caracas with a statement that accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of using attacks and intimidation to curb criticism of his government.

Last year Mr. Chavez refused to renew the license of Radio Caracas Television and replaced it with a state-run channel that airs government propaganda.

The IAPA also said Cuba's detention of 25 journalists amounted to a demonstration of total intolerance.    » read more »

Senators say they plan to engage the Organization of American States on matter

March 4, 2008 -- WASHINGTON – As tensions in South America persist following the movement of Ecuadorian and Venezuelan troops to the Colombian border, two members of the Senator Foreign Relations Committee who are prominent on Latin American issues today called for increased diplomacy in the region.    » read more »

04 March 2008 -- President Bush is backing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe in his stand-off with Venezuela and Ecuador. Venezuela and Ecuador cut diplomatic ties with Colombia after its forces attacked Colombian rebels inside Ecuador on Saturday.

President Bush says he telephoned President Uribe and told him that America will continue to stand with Colombia as it confronts violence, terror, and drug traffickers.    » read more »

03 March 2008 -- Colombia -- Venezuela and Ecuador moved their armies to the Colombian border and shut down their embassies in Bogota amid rising tensions about Colombia's cross-border raid against FARC rebels in Ecuador.

Venezuela has also deployed tanks and fighter planes to the border. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says Colombia's incursion into Ecuador has pushed South America to the brink of war.    » read more »