I Will Be President Until 2019: Hugo Chavez

Breaking News The President of Venezuelan Hugo Chavez said that he would be the President of the country for another eight years and he sees himself as the winner of presidential election 2012.

“I will be elected in December 2012. It is written.” While addressing to a public gathering in the capital Caracas on the 53 National Democracy Day Chavez hinted that the next term in office would be his last in
Venezuela.“I will be your servant until 2019 and then, good-bye.” Said Chavez
.
The President proudly noted that he and his supporters have repeatedly defeated opposition candidates at the polls for more than a decade. The 56-year-old Chavez, who has been in power since 1999, said that I love my country and the nation and I want to present all my services for the country and nation.

Before the speech of President, the opponents of government held a demonstration in eastern Caracas, they criticized the last month’s decision by the National Assembly of Venezuela to grant Chavez the power to pass laws by decree for 18 months.

Chavez attempted to introduce socialist reforms to the country, and emphasized the introduction of participatory democracy and further civil rights for the women and indigenous groups.

Chavez party wins majority, but not full control

CARACAS: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s party won most seats in key legislative elections, but strong opposition gains robbed it of enough votes to easily pass reforms, electoral officials have said.

The ruling party won at least 90 out of 165 seats in the National Assembly in Sunday’s vote, and the opposition had at least 61, the electoral council said after almost eight hours of vote counting. AGENCIES

Chavez rejects US ambassador-designate to Venezuela

CARACAS: President Hugo Chavez on Sunday rejected Larry Palmer as the US ambassador-designate to Venezuela, and urged US President Barack Obama to “look for another candidate.”

“How can you think I”d accept this gentleman coming here? You”d best withdraw him, Obama. Don”t insist, I”m asking you,” said Chavez in his weekly “Alo Presidente” radio and television show.

Palmer recently voiced concern about Cuba”s growing influence in the Venezuelan military, which, he said was “considerably low” in morale and professionalism.

In written answers to a US lawmaker”s questions — his nomination as ambassador must be confirmed by the Senate — Palmer also said there were “clear ties” between leftist Colombian guerrillas and Chavez”s government.

Venezuela”s foreign ministry on Thursday protested Palmer”s statements as “interference and interventionism” and asked the United States for an explanation before he was confirmed in his post.

Palmer “can”t come here as ambassador,” said Chavez. “He disqualified himself by breaking all the rules of diplomacy. He messed with all of us. He can”t come here.”

“The best thing the United States government can do is to look for another candidate,” for ambassador to Venezuela, he added.

The US government has said it shares Palmer”s concerns about Venezuela, but denied it was interfering in Venezuela”s internal affairs.

In its annual report on terrorism, the US State Department on Thursday said anti-terrorist cooperation with Venezuela had dropped to a minimum and that Venezuela”s alleged support to Colombia”s leftist FARC guerrillas was still uncertain.

Palmer, in his written response, offered the most detailed explanation yet of Washington”s view of the presence of Colombian guerrillas in Venezuela, an issue that Bogota and Caracas have been quarreling over.

He said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) “maintain camps in Venezuela, and members of the FARC high command have occasionally appeared in public in Caracas.”

“The Venezuelan government has been unwilling to prevent Colombian guerrillas from entering and establishing camps in Venezuelan territory,” Palmer added.

Chavez on July 22 broke off diplomatic relations with Colombia and reinforced its military presence at the border.

Since the inauguration of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Saturday, however, both countries have made overtures and said they are prepared to talk to resume normal relations.

Malaysian court clears Muslim of church firebomb attack

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian court has cleared a Muslim man accused of firebombing a church, reports said Saturday, one of a spate of attacks on places of worship that escalated ethnic tensions.

Eleven churches were attacked with Molotov cocktails, stones and paint in violence earlier this year in Muslim-majority Malaysia, triggered by a ruling that overturned a ban on non-Muslims using “Allah” as a translation for “God”.

Dispatch rider Azuwan Shah Ahmad and two brothers are the first to face the courts in connection with the attacks.

They were charged over the firebombing of a church in a southern suburb of Kuala Lumpur on January 7.

“There is insufficient evidence to link Azuwan Shah Ahmad, 23, to the offence,” Sessions Court judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah said in acquitting him on Friday, according to the Star newspaper.

Witnesses reportedly told the court that Azuwan was only present at a gathering before the attack, but did not go to the church. Azuwan”s lawyer could not be reached for comment.

Chavez deploys military units in Colombia row

CARACAS: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he deployed military units to repel a possible attack after Colombia claimed last week his country harbored leftist rebels, but said he hoped to mend ties soon.

Chavez severed relations with U.S. ally Colombia last week over Bogota”s charges his oil exporting country allowed Colombian guerrillas to stay in camps.

He has since said Colombia was preparing a military attack. Colombia denies the charge, and most analysts say a war between the countries is very unlikely.

“I should tell you we have deployed units to defend our sovereignty in case of an aggression, air defense units, air units, infantry, special operations,” Chavez said in a phone call to a state TV station, adding that a Colombian aircraft had violated Venezuela airspace for five minutes this week.

“We don”t want to hurt anybody. We don”t want to cause alarm in the population,” said Chavez, who has seized on the dispute with Colombia to rally supporters ahead of parliamentary elections on September 26.

This week Venezuelan soldiers visited sites Colombia says are established military bases, but they found only derelict buildings, Chavez said. In one case, the coordinate given by Colombia led soldiers to a rock in a river, he said.

“Last night I said to the guys, “lift the rock,” sure it”s not a big stone, but you never know, there might be a tunnel,” he said. “Maybe under the stone there is a tunnel and a camp, Vietnam-style.”

On Sunday he threatened to cut oil supplies to the United States, who he says is behind the alleged plan to invade, in case of military aggression from Colombia. The threat is a common one for Chavez, but he has never followed through and oil and debt markets shrugged off the news.

The socialist leader said he believed the outgoing conservative government of President Alvaro Uribe, who he described as “obsessed,” might still attack Venezuela, but said his Foreign Minister will meet with Colombia”s new government, which takes office on August 7.

Close Uribe ally Juan Manuel Santos, a former defense minister who will become president next week, wants to improve relations with Venezuela because the festering dispute has cost Colombia billions of dollars in lost trade.

Chavez did not say where he had sent the forces, or how many were deployed. Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez on Thursday promised no attack was planned.

Two years ago, Chavez ordered tanks to the border in protest at a Colombian bombing raid on a guerrilla base in Ecuador. It was never clear if the tanks were mobilized.

A former soldier, Chavez says he would not launch an offensive against another country, but has spent billions retooling his armed forces because he says the OPEC nation is vulnerable to a U.S.-backed invasion.

Venezuela has proposed a wide-reaching peace plan to end Colombia”s four-decade civil war, saying it is a victim of violent groups that spill over the border. Uribe has wanted Chavez to take action against guerrillas he say launch dozens of attacks from Venezuela.

Chavez denies his government supports the rebels, but says he cannot take sides in the Colombia”s war. He also recognizes that much of Venezuela”s 1,375-mile (2,200-km) border with Colombia is porous and vulnerable.

Chavez threatens U.S. oil cut in Colombia dispute

CARACAS: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened on Sunday to cut oil supplies to the United States in case of a military attack from Colombia as a dispute escalated over charges his country harbors Colombian rebels.

A vocal and frequent critic of the United States, Chavez broke off diplomatic relations with Colombia last week over the claims by the outgoing government of President Alvaro Uribe, a close U.S. ally.

Chavez, a leftist who says Washington is behind the charges, has never carried out previous threats to cut oil supplies to the United States, Venezuela”s main customer.

“If there was any armed aggression against Venezuela from Colombian territory or from anywhere else, promoted by the Yankee empire, we would suspend oil shipments to the United States, even if we have to eat stones here,” he said.

“We would not send a drop more to U.S. refineries,” he said to a roar of approval from thousands of supporters at a rally for his Socialist party.

Chavez, a former soldier and close ally of Cuba”s Fidel Castro, is also angry with Bogota over a deal to allow U.S. troops access to a series of military bases.

Venezuela, a member of OPEC, gets more than 90 percent of its export income from oil sales, mostly to the United States, and the South American country”s economy would collapse quickly if it stopped shipments.

Speaking from Cuba, Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said the oil industry was on “yellow alert” and prepared to follow Chavez”s orders.

“That”s the first step,” Ramirez said. “We are ready to suspend the shipment of oil and products to the United States if we suffer some type of military aggression.”

Oil workers assembled in the port of Puerto La Cruz were told to prepare themselves and their families for a possible “bellicose imperial” action, state oil company PDVSA said.

For Chavez, who has suffered a slide in his popularity this year because of a deep recession, the dispute with Colombia is a useful way of rallying supporters ahead of parliamentary elections in September. The president, who was briefly ousted in a coup in 2002, often alleges U.S.-backed plots against him.

The rift has been costly for both nations. Billions of dollars in trade were lost when Chavez ordered government importers not to buy from the neighboring country.

Uribe will be succeeded as Colombia”s president on Aug. 7 by Juan Manuel Santos, who has been careful to avoid public comment on the dispute.

Although Chavez says he hopes ties can return to normal under Santos, tensions are likely to resurface over the issue of FARC camps and a U.S. military presence in Colombia.

A group of South American foreign ministers will meet in Ecuador next week in an attempt to resolve the crisis.

Santos was Colombia”s defense minister in 2008 and ordered the bombing of a guerrilla camp in Ecuador, prompting Chavez to order troops to the border with Colombia to deter any plans to carry out a similar raid in Venezuela.

On Thursday, Colombia”s envoy to the Organization of American States (OAS) revealed coordinates, photos and videos of FARC camps allegedly in Venezuela — apparently choosing diplomacy to avoid sparking a war in the region.

But Chavez said he feared an attack from Colombia was imminent and canceled a trip to Havana for a celebration of Cuba”s Communist revolution, saying the threat against Venezuela meant it was not wise for him to travel.

Old Foes Chavez, Uribe in Final Showdown

By Frank Jack DanielLatin America’s most fractious relationship is going out with a bang and the fallout from the latest showdown between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Colombia’s outgoing Alvaro Uribe may leave a lasting mark on regional ties.

Originally posted here: 
Old Foes Chavez, Uribe in Final Showdown

US Spy Plane violated Venezuela’s airspace, President Hugo Chavez

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accused the United States of launching a spy plane from Colombia that violated his country’s airspace, and vowed to shoot down any future such aircraft.

The firebrand leftist leader said Sunday that a drone with “Yankee technology used in Colombia” flew over a Venezuelan military base a “few days ago,” taking photographs before disappearing. “Last night, I ordered these little planes to be shot down,” Chavez added on his weekly television and radio program. “We cannot permit this.”

His allegations came amid tense ties between neighbors Colombia and Venezuela, after Washington and Bogota struck a deal allowing US forces to run counternarcotics operations from Colombian bases. Venezuela suspended diplomatic relations with Colombia in July in response to the US-Colombian military base deal, denouncing it as a military threat to the sovereignty of Latin American countries and saying it paved the way for a possible attack against Venezuela.

Chavez warned Colombia against sending its armed forces across the border into Venezuela. “You’ll be sorry,” the former paratroop commander said. “We are not unarmed.”

The US-Colombian agreement, signed on October 30, involves seven Colombian bases and sparked consternation throughout the region, particularly irking Caracas.

Last week, Chavez said the US military was using Dutch islands off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast — Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao — as a staging area for a possible attack. The Netherlands has denied the claims. In November, Chavez called on his countrymen to “prepare for war” and Colombia’s defense minister announced Friday it would build a new military base near its border with Venezuela supplied with up to 1,000 troops, with two air battalions also activated at other border areas.
The two countries share a 2,000-kilometer border.

---

US Spy Plane violated Venezuela’s airspace, President Hugo Chavez was first posted on December 21, 2009 at 11:07 pm.