Tag Archives: United States

Oct
18
2010
Posted by
editor
Comments

Spain-Venezuela ties strained as Hugo Chávez stonewalls ETA investigation

This article was originally posted by The Christian Science Monitor

 A standoff between Spain and Venezuela is heating up as Spanish authorities move toward requesting the extradition of an alleged ETA member working within the government of President Hugo Chávez.

Mr. Chávez said last week that Venezuela would not extradite Arturo Cubillas, the Basque separatist group’s alleged top militant in Latin America, because local law does not allow extraditions of citizens. A Spaniard, Mr. Cubillas became a naturalized citizen in 1993.

But the decision of Spain’s prosecutor general to ask today for the National Court to request the extradition underscores how authorities are under pressure to act more forcefully against Chávez. His defiance and ongoing refusal to cooperate with Spanish authorities could ultimately trigger a powerful reaction from Europe and the United States, including labeling the country a state sponsor of terrorism, analysts say.

“If [the Spanish government] wanted to, it could pressure Europe and its allies, including the US, to include Venezuela in the list of state sponsors of terrorism,” says Oscar Elía, an ETA expert with the Madrid-based Strategic Studies Group who has written extensively about the Basque group. “This could blow over if Chávez was more helpful, but he doesn’t even deny it. Instead he is defiant and arrogant.”

Read More

 
Oct
14
2010
Posted by
editor
Comments

Chavez Visit to Land Social Housing Deal

This article was orginally posted by The Moscow Times

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is scheduled to arrive Thursday for a two-day official visit, during which the close Russian ally is expected to sign agreements on building social housing in Caracas and to establish a binational bank.

The visit will be Chavez’s ninth to Russia since taking office in 1999. During his most recent trip, in September of last year, Chavez recognized the breakaway Georgian republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.

Recognizing the Russian-backed regions drew an angry response from Georgia, but Moscow awarded Chavez — a longtime foe of the United States — with a $2 billion loan to purchase tanks and anti-aircraft rocket systems.

But military cooperation will not be the focus of the current visit, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Wednesday in an interview, the text of which was published on his ministry’s web site.

“Ties with this country are also being formed in energy, hydrocarbons extraction and refining, but again — it’s more than just that,” Ryabkov told Golos Rossii radio. “We’re also seeing areas like … agriculture, scientific research and even construction of social housing.”

Chavez will meet President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and sign agreements to further cooperation in several areas including “the foundation of a Russian-Venezuelan bank and a project to build social housing in Caracas,” Itar-Tass reported, citing Venezuelan news agencies.

Read More

 
Oct
12
2010
Posted by
editor
Comments

Chávez’s tour suggests no change in Venezuelan foreign policy

This article was originally posted by El Universal.

Some analysts think that the presidential tour of these nations, which starts 15 days after parliament election, cannot be separated from the election results and the expropriation of Venezuelan and foreign companies announced by the Venezuelan president in the last few days. 

Professor Demetrio Boersner, an expert in foreign affairs and former Venezuelan ambassador to Bucharest, Stockholm and Vienna, considers that Chávez’s visit to Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Syria and Belarus, “is intended to shape a political image rather than to seek specific agreements.” 

Boersner said that the Venezuelan president wants to give the impression that he controls the situation, that there will be no changes despite the results of recent elections. 

Foreign affairs expert Carlos Romero agrees with Boersner with regard to the message that the Venezuelan President wants to convey with the tour. “He wants to reiterate Venezuela’s international commitment with countries that, from a global perspective, are considered opponents of the United States. This is his response to the domestic political situation. He wants to show that election results do not force the government to adopt a less radical foreign policy that takes into account the other half of the country and reflects Venezuela’s general interest.”